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Retrial ruling
reveals secret diplomatic efforts
By Lin Ching-chuan / Staff Reporter
A ruling by the Taiwan High Court last week, in which former president Chen
Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó) was found not guilty of misusing his special state affairs fund,
inadvertently revealed secret diplomatic efforts by Taipei as it explained in
detail how Chen spent state affairs funds to promote relations with other
countries.
PRIME MINISTERS
The ruling said that Taipei in the 1990s lobbied former Japanese prime ministers
Ryutaro Hashimoto and Junichiro Koizumi to support Taiwan¡¦s efforts to attend
the WTO Ministerial Conference on Agriculture ¡X efforts that succeeded in the
long run.
The Taiwan High Court on Friday rescinded previous rulings and found Chen and
former first lady Wu Shu-jen (§d²Q¬Ã) not guilty of corruption, in a retrial of
their state affairs fund case.
STATE AFFAIRS
The court said it acquitted Chen of corruption in the case because he had spent
more than the funds he received during his terms in office and spent all the
money on state affairs.
These included 21 secret diplomacy programs and bonuses to his staff.
In order not to leak national secrets in the ruling, the court used codes to
represent Taiwan¡¦s secret diplomatic activities.
These included an invitation by Taiwan to an aide on public policy of former US
president Bill Clinton, referred to as ¡§M,¡¨ to visit Taiwan; an ¡§S¡¨ program to
smooth and maintain Taiwan-US communication channels; an ¡§F¡¨ program to lobby US
government officials on a regular basis; an ¡§L¡¨ program to fund the campaign of
a member of the US Congress, and ¡§F¡¨ and ¡§J¡¨ programs to promote diplomatic ties
with Fiji and Japan respectively.
DISSIDENTS
The ruling revealed that Chen also funded two Chinese dissidents, whose names
were not mentioned in the ruling.
The ruling further said that the National Security Bureau under former president
Lee Teng-hui (§õµn½÷) launched program ¡§S¡¨ to strengthen unofficial cooperation
channels between Taiwan, Japan and the US and handed more than NT$2.7 million
annually to a Taiwanese operative who was familiar with Japanese politicians
friendly to Taiwan.
COMMUNICATION
It said that the Taiwanese man had kept in touch with then-Japanese heavyweight
senator Shiina Motoo, who maintained communication channels between Japan,
Taiwan and the US.
The ruling added that in 2000, Chen paid NT$2 million from his state affairs
fund to keep the program alive.
The ruling continued that during the Universal Exposition in Tokyo in 2006,
Taiwan sought and won more than 50 exhibitions through diplomatic work with
Japan.
HELP GIVEN
Furthermore, when the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic
Tuna planned to cancel Taipei¡¦s cooperating non-member status because Taiwan was
considered to be catching tuna over its quota limit, Taipei asked Mitsuhiro
Miyakoshi, then Japanese vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries,
for help.
Miyakoshi stepped in and after intensive lobbying to the convention, the country
was able to keep its cooperating non-member status.
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