Taiwan wins World Games medals
　

THE HOST WITH THE MOST: Taiwan benefited from a home court advantage yesterday as three Taiwanese athletes brought home medals on the opening day
　

By Richard Hazeldine
STAFF REPORTER, WITH STAFF WRITER AND CNA
Saturday, Jul 18, 2009, Page 1
　

Taiwan pulled in three medals in the opening day of competition at the 2009 World Games in ­Kaohsiung yesterday as some events were rescheduled out of concerns about looming severe weather.

Huang Yu-ting won Taiwan’s first gold of the World Games in the women’s 300m speed rollerskating final, while compatriot Hsu Chiao-jen won the silver medal.

Lo Wei-lin brought Taiwan its second gold medal in the men’s final of the same event.

In the dragonboat races Taiwan took second place in the 2,000m final and third place in the 200m final. As it is an invitational sport, no medals were awarded.

CHINESE BOYCOTT

Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said yesterday the Chinese team’s boycott of the Games’ opening ceremony on Thursday means that China denies Taiwan’s status as a sovereign state and President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) claim that Beijing accepts “one China with different interpretations” is a lie.
　

The boycott showed that Beijing always harbors a political agenda about Taiwan and that Ma’s reconciliation with Beijing is a failure, she said.

DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) also said Ma failed to refer to himself as the president of Republic of China (ROC) during the opening ceremony, and instead used the word “I.”

Ma did not take the opportunity to proclaim to the world that Taiwan is a sovereign state because he did not want to offend Beijing, Chen said.

The KMT’s Central Policy Committee Director Lin Yi-shih (林益世) yesterday asked the DPP not to apply political ideology to sports.

STORM

With Tropical Storm Molave looking like it will cause heavy rainfall and strong winds in Taiwan, Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) of the 2009 Kaohsiung Organizing Committee (KOC) said officials will make a decision on how to deal with the coming storm. Liu said that the KOC will keep an eye on things and will provide umbrellas and other wet weather gear to spectators.

Liu said that the KOC will keep in close contact with the Central Weather Bureau to decide whether planned tournaments will need to be postponed.

Air sports events were postponed today because of the effects of the storm. Accuracy Jumping was stopped after only two rounds. The event had already been postponed due to bad weather throughout the day and it was too dark for the event to continue by the time the rest of the competitors were ready to go on. The event will be continued tomorrow. Canopy piloting proceedings went smoothly while freeflying was also stopped prematurely.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG AND STAFF WRITER

Also See: EDITORIAL: Let’s play a game: Slap our president

Also See: THE WORLD GAMES 2009 KAOHSIUNG: Speed rollerskater seizes nation’s first Games gold

Also See: THE WORLD GAMES 2009 KAOHSIUNG: Taiwan’s dragon boat teams make strong Kaohsiung start

Church asks Obama to prevent China takeover
　

By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Jul 18, 2009, Page 1

The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan yesterday issued an open letter to US President Barack Obama, reminding him not to sacrifice Taiwan’s national interest as the US develops closer ties with China.

“We urge the US government to review its policies concerning Taiwan and China, recognize the fact that Taiwan and China are two separate countries, and take a leading role in calling together all peace-and-justice-loving countries in the world to prevent China from taking over Taiwan through military or any other means for any reason,” the Church’s statement said.

“The Taiwanese are a people who enjoy democracy and freedom, and we cherish our achievements [in freedom and democracy],” the statement said. “At the moment, more than 80 percent of the people are opposed to unification with China, thus we insist on defending our right to self-determination under peaceful means and wish to participate in international affairs as an independent country.”

The statement said that if China were to take Taiwan by force, it would not only destroy the hard-earned democracy in Taiwan, but could also jeopardize peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

The statement was issued following a decision made during the church’s 54th General Assembly meeting that began on Thursday and ended yesterday, said Leonard Lin (林宗正), a pastor of the Church who presided over the meeting.

“According to a report by the Taipei Times, US President Barack Obama may meet with ­Chinese President Hu Jintao [胡錦濤] at the G20 meeting to take place in Washington in September,” Lin told the Taipei Times.

“We’re worried that Taiwan’s national interests may be sacrificed as the US’ new cross-strait policy forms after the meeting and thus wanted to make sure that Taiwan’s voice is heard beforehand,” he said.

In 1977, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan also issued a statement calling on former US president Jimmy Carter not to overlook the interests of Taiwanese as Washington established formal diplomatic ties with Beijing.

The Church had not yet completed an official English translation of the letter, but it plans to deliver the letter to Obama by the end of this month, Lin said.

“Besides handing the letter to the American Institute in Taiwan, we will also ask Christian organizations friendly to Taiwan to help deliver the message to other political leaders and peoples of the world,” Lin said.

Prosecutors indict three members of Chen family
　

EAVESDROPPING: Chen Shui-bian’s office said the Ministry of Justice and Taipei District Court broke the law by quoting from conversations he had while in detention
　

By Mo Yan-Chih
STAFF REPORTER, WITH CNA
Saturday, Jul 18, 2009, Page 3

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted three members of detained former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) family on charges relating to the former leader’s corruption trial.

The indictment said Chen’s son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), daughter Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤) and son-in-law Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘), together with former Taipei Financial Center Corp chairwoman Diana Chen (陳敏薰), had been charged withcommitting perjury during Chen Shui-bian’s corruption trial.

Former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) was indicted for instigating perjury for allegedly instructing her children to lie during a probe into the embezzlement charges against both herself and her husband, the prosecutor said.

Chen Shui-bian, who left office last year, stands accused of embezzling public funds, money laundering, accepting bribes on a land deal, influence peddling and forgery. He has been detained since December last year.

Denying the charges, Chen dismissed his lawyers and has kept silent in recent court sessions to protest against his detention and trial. Chen has also said the allegations against him and his family are politically motivated and orchestrated by his China-friendly successor, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).

The court on Monday cited several reasons from previous rulings — the concern that Chen would collude with witnesses, destroy evidence or try to abscond — in defending its decision to extend his detention for the third time. Under Taiwanese law, there are no limits on how long Chen can be detained.

In related news, Chen Shui-bian’s office yesterday accused the Ministry of Justice and Taipei District Court of violating the law by quoting from conversations between Chen Shui-bian and his staff and said it would file lawsuits against the ministry, the district court and Taipei Detention Center next week.

The amendment to the Detention Law (羈押法), which took effect on May 16, bars detention centers from providing detainees’ conversations and letters to prosecutors or courts.

Chen Shui-bian’s conversations with his staff at the detention center on June 8, however, were quoted by Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓). The move violated the law, the office said yesterday in a written statement.

The ministry issued a press release to defend its decision and said that it provided the information about Chen Shui-bian’s meeting with Democratic Progressive Party Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) and former DPP legislator Chiang Chao-i (江昭儀) before the amendment took effect.

Tsai made the decision to extend Chen’s detention based on his conversation with staff on June 8, the former president’s office said.

“How did Tsai and the court know about the context of former president Chen’s conversation on June 8?” the office said. “If the ministry did not tell lies about giving out Chen’s conversation on June 8, did Tsai overhear the conversation at the detention center?”

The office said Chen Shui-bian had asked his lawyer to collect evidence of the court’s “abuse of power” and the ministry’s violation of laws.

Director hopes for change in judiciary
　

'Killing in Formosa III,' a documentary by film producer and director Tsai Tsung-lung (蔡崇隆) on the plight of the Hsichih Trio, had its premiere in Taipei last week. Tsai recently sat down with 'Taipei Times' reporter Shelley Huang to talk about the making of the documentary and his views on the nation's judicial system

Saturday, Jul 18, 2009, Page 4

“I don’t expect to influence judges or people in power with my documentary, but I hope that as more viewers see the film, more people will keep a close watch on the judicial system.”
— Tsai Tsung-lung, director and producer

The plight of Su Chien-ho (蘇建和), Liu Bing-lang (劉秉郎) and Chuang Lin-hsun (莊林勳) began in 1991, when they were accused of brutally murdering a couple in Taipei County. Despite the lack of material evidence, the three men were sentenced to death based almost entirely on confessions allegedly extracted under torture.

Killing in Formosa I (島國殺人紀事I), a documentary by producer and director Tsai Tsung-lung (蔡崇隆), was filmed in 2000, when the three men — who came to be known as the Hsichih Trio — were in prison amid a lengthy legal process, with the Supreme Court twice returning the case to a lower court for reconsideration and the State Public prosecutor-general making three special appeals to the Supreme Court to review the case.

Tsai decided to film a sequel, Killing in Formosa III (Killing in Formosa II was about a separate case), last year after the Taiwan High Court in July 2007 reversed its 2003 acquittal of the three defendants and sentenced them to death.

Taipei Times: In “Killing I” the film focused on discussions about the evidence and the legal process, while in “Killing III” viewers saw more about how the Hsichih Trio live outside prison. What is the most important thing you hoped to achieve in “Killing III” that you were not able to do in the first film?

Tsai: In Killing III, we were able to focus more on projecting the three men as real people — not just prisoners with chains on their feet and hands. It was the closest we got to filming them as normal people. What if they are innocent? If they are not criminals but they are always filmed with handcuffs on, you create a tainted image of them. So I think in Killing III we were able to make them more human, whereas in Killing I their roles were predetermined to be prisoners because we could only film them in jail. We do not have those limitations in the sequel, so I believe the audience can view them from a better perspective.

Now that I've become friends with the three, some might think the film has taken on a warmer tone. If you get to know these men, you would know that they are not capable of committing such crimes. However, not everyone can get to know them, so I hope the documentary can serve as a platform for people to know them indirectly.

I hope the film acts as a bridge between the audience and the defendants, as well as a bridge between the victims' family and the defendants, because in real life, they would never have the chance to start a dialogue with one another, except in a framework where they play the roles of defendants or victims' families. I hope that through the documentary, they can take a good look at each other and listen to one another. The two sides are both victims, and it's very sad because the system oppresses them, and they in turn oppress each other.

TT: You have known the trio for about 10 years now. How do you think your interaction with them has changed over the years, and how has that change affected your making of “Killing I” and “Killing III”?

Tsai: When we filmed Killing I, we could only interview them in the meeting room provided by the prison wards and film some of their activities in prison, so our understanding of their lives in jail was very limited. We got to know them better indirectly by talking to their families and reading what they wrote. The Humanistic Education Foundation has volunteers who visit them every week, so we also interviewed the volunteers to hear what they had observed about them. If you were to compare Killing I and Killing III, you would see that we had more interaction and became more like friends in the sequel.

Throughout the entire film, you won't hear the narrator say that the three are innocent, even though I have become friends with them and, as a friend, I don't think they have killed anyone. I think that if the court cannot prove they are guilty, then it should rule that they are innocent.

I don't want my images to tell the viewer they are guilty or not guilty. I don't like cramming ideas into people's heads. Just because I don't think they are criminals, it doesn't mean I should make a film to convince the viewer of their innocence. I hope my images allow viewers to decide for themselves.

TT: What does the case tell us about Taiwan's judiciary?

Tsai: The way our courts have handled the Su case [Hsichih Trio case] disappoints me. The courts are prejudiced against them and try to find evidence to prove that they are guilty. They try to force a confession, and then use it against them.

Perhaps it's because I went to law school, so I see the case as two issues: One is whether they are truly guilty, the other is whether they are guilty in the eyes of the law. Some people think the two are the same, but for me, there is a big difference.

For example, if the three committed murder, but our courts cannot find any evidence to prove it, then we can only let them go free. It's the same as the OJ Simpson trial, many people may believe he is guilty, but because there is insufficient evidence, he cannot be convicted of murder. It sounds harsh, but if we live in a state ruled by law, we have to accept this.

TT: Do you hope to influence judges and prosecutors involved in the case with the films?

Tsai: I don't know if the people who handled the Su case have watched the film. I read media reports that the offspring of a judge saw the film and asked his father, how can you rule this way or that. I admit, Killing I did not portray the judges in a positive light.

I'm actually quite afraid that the case may become too famous. If the Su case is resolved and everyone is happy, people might think all the judicial system's flaws have been rectified. That isn't what I wish to see. There are many other cases that show flaws in the judicial system.

History has shown that it is difficult to expect people in power to act according to their conscience. It is up to us ordinary citizens to help the victims of unfair trials. If we can make our voices heard and bring pressure on the authorities, then we can make a difference. They are not bad people; maybe they don't have the time or they change when they get into a position of power.

I don't expect to influence judges or people in power with my documentary, but I hope that as more viewers see the film, more people will keep a close watch on the judicial system.

Let’s play a game: Slap our president

Saturday, Jul 18, 2009, Page 8

Were it not for the need to maintain decorum and show Taiwan’s best face to the sporting world, the boycott by Chinese athletes of the World Games opening ceremony would warrant symbolic retaliation. No matter the reason for the boycott — refusing to recognize President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at the ceremony, or just boycotting for boycotting’s sake — and no matter how predictable such Chinese behavior may be, the snub directed at a democratically elected leader and the country he represents was deeply offensive and violated the goodwill that underlies international sporting competition.

The irony, of course, is that the Ma government is relying on Chinese goodwill to enhance electoral credibility and thus is averse to retaliation of any nature. Indeed, hardliners in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus rushed to hail the snub as a masterstroke of cross-strait detente. Were it not for Chinese goodwill, they bleat, the Chinese athletes would not be coming at all.

KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), one such hardliner, on Thursday praised negotiations between Taiwan’s Olympic authority, the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee, and Chinese authorities that allegedly resulted in the boycott deal. The only sensible response to this self-destructive conduct is that the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee has, yet again, matched its incompetence in sports management with backroom mischief-making worthy of the International Olympic Committee itself.

None of this comes as any surprise. It is, however, becoming more and more interesting to reflect on what degree of insulting Chinese conduct Ma will tolerate personally given his typically pallid response to this snub — let alone behavior targeting the people he was elected to lead.

The World Games give China an opportunity to place itself in an attractive light in an international context, especially in light of the latest butchery in Xinjiang. These are, after all, world games, not an athletic exercise to exhort Chinese power and glory.

So, when the Taiwanese placard and flag carriers for the Chinese team walked out into the stadium with a large hole behind them where the Chinese delegation should have been, the insult was not just directed at Ma, or Taiwan, or the crowd that applauded politely and booed in roughly equal measure, but also at the other athletes.

For most, this incident will fade in the memory as the Games continue. For unificationists, it will probably lead to self-congratulation over the minimal backlash. For independence activists, however, the incident will add fuel to the theory that this nation’s president is prepared to subject himself to any act of symbolic denigration from the Chinese Communist Party in order to feed his obsession with Greater China and the economic and geopolitical confectionary it creates.

For credulous observers who would interpret Ma’s refusal, yet again, to take China’s bait as signs of statesmanship and strategic aplomb, the time will come when Ma’s effete and barren leadership will falter under direct acts of Chinese coercion, shattering their fantasies of regional stability and cooperation.

Ma’s presence at the World Games opening ceremony offered hope that he was becoming more willing to use his prestige as president in an international context. The Chinese boycott, however, reminds us that things have not changed very much.

As an instance of disposable cowardice, the reaction of the government and the KMT adds to a body of evidence that this president, this government and the party machine remain unwilling to rally around the flag at those symbolic moments that count.

China and Chinese are al-Qaeda’s new target
　

By J. Michael Cole 寇謐將
Saturday, Jul 18, 2009, Page 8

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an Algeria-based offshoot of al-Qaeda, has reportedly threatened to target Chinese interests overseas in retaliation for Beijing’s crackdown against Uighurs in Xinjiang last week in which 192 people were killed.

Quoting a security consultancy, the South China Morning Post wrote that while AQIM — a loose umbrella for North African extremist organizations, according to terrorism experts — was the first al-Qaeda-linked group to issue such a threat against China, others were likely to follow.

It matters little if, according to Beijing, 137 of the 192 people who were killed in the clashes in Xinjiang were Han rather than Muslim. For extremist organizations like AQIM (a rebranding of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, or GSPC) and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), decades of victimization of Muslims in Xinjiang and the attendant list of grievances are the essence of the problem; last week’s violence was simply the trigger.

Interestingly enough, the targeting of China follows a pattern established with the West, and the US in particular, in which the interests of the “oppressor” are targeted by al-Qaeda where they are weakest — and as a means to place pressure on the central government to (a) change a policy and (b) leave the region.

In this case, the proximate enemy is China, but ETIM and other extremist organizations in Central Asia are in no position to target the Chinese government head-on.

Instead, they will punish Beijing by attacking soft targets abroad: Chinese workers, diplomatic missions, companies and so on.

Like the US, China will be the victim of its growing presence abroad. Given China’s reliance on oil and natural gas, combined with the fact that a large share of those resources comes from the Persian Gulf, Africa and Central Asia, exposure of Chinese interests to radical groups will not be minimal.

In coming weeks and months, therefore, we can expect kidnappings and attacks on soft Chinese targets in Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Maghreb and the Middle East, and possibly in parts of Latin America, with the first two regions the likeliest to see violence.

Should this transpire, we can predict that China, which so far has remained relatively stand-offish on security in these regions, will become more involved militarily in Central Asia to protect its nationals and its interests — particularly the flow of energy.

This also has implications for Taiwan.

Two things stand out. First, by virtue of their similar features and language, Taiwanese abroad could be mistaken for Chinese and targeted by extremist organizations.

This is akin to the threat level facing Caucasians whenever al-Qaeda or other extremist organizations call for attacks against Americans or Britons.

Another offshoot of this threat is that US-China cooperation on anti-terrorism could be boosted, as a terrorist attack against Chinese interests would “confirm” that Beijing and Washington face a common enemy.

If this were to happen, Beijing would acquire yet another tool with which to manipulate the US — especially under a scenario in which the People’s Liberation Army is called upon to exercise a security role in Central Asia and perhaps in Afghanistan, where ETIM elements are believed to have sought refuge.

J. Michael Cole is a writer based in Taipei and the author of Democracy in Peril: Taiwan’s Struggle for Survival from Chen Shui-bian to Ma Ying-jeou.

Be-leaf it or not: worshippers pray to tree gods for protection


Saturday, Jul 18, 2009,Page 13

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In Taiwanese folk belief, some people pray to trees in the firm belief that there is a deity in every big tree. This practice has developed into a unique “big tree deity” culture in what is a unique aspect of Taiwanese folk belief.

Su Jui-chan, a teacher at A-lien elementary school in Kaohsiung County has spent two years visiting 700 sites of big trees and temples and collected his notes in a study.

Su says Taiwanese traditionally refer to grass and tree spirits as the Big Tree Deity, the Tree King or the Ancient Holy Lord, and that the worshipped trees are taller than 10m and older than 100 years. They also differentiate between different kinds of trees, such as banyan, fir, mango and so on.

Su’s study shows that big tree deity worship in Kaohsiung County is mainly found on the western bank of the Kaoping River, and that there are more such deities in Taliao and Chishan than in other townships. Su guesses that the Kaoping river bank is hilly and that mid and upstream parts of the river are close to the mountains and therefore less developed than other areas such as Fengshan and Kangshan. The result is that there are more old trees left there.

Su says tree worshippers include men and women, old and young, and that according to folk tradition, weak and sickly children often are made to worship tree deities as if the deities were their step- or godparents in the hope that the children will grow to be as strong and healthy as the tree deity.

The Banyan King in the Shennong Temple in Neitung Village of Neimen Township is an old mango and banyan tree growing intertwined with each other. A protrusion on the southern side of the mango tree looks like male genitalia, while a cavity on the northern side of the banyan tree looks like female genitalia. As a result, many childless couples visit the Banyan King to pray for children.

In addition, many women of a certain occupation firmly believe they will remain healthy and avoid disease if they touch the cavity on the banyan tree.

There are also innumerable local legends about big tree deities. The best known legend about a big tree deity saving a person is the one about the Parasol Tree King in Tali City, Taichung County. According to legend, during the reign of the Qing dynasty Kangxi emperor, the Parasol Tree King transformed into a warrior dressed in red and then fought off a band of bandits and freed Prince Jiaqing who was visiting Taiwan.

Su also says big tree deities do not rank very high in the spirit world, placing them roughly at the same level as the earth god. Big tree deity worship, however, shows no signs of disappearing, and the ongoing worship and activities remain an important clue when studying Taiwanese folklore.