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Chen Shui-bian now
working on his seventh book
PROLIFIC IN PRISON: Chen’s fourth book awaits
publication and his fifth is being edited, while his son wrote a newspaper
article pleading for his release
By Chris Wang / Staff reporter
Former president Chen Shui-bian
steps out of a prison van as he is taken to attend a session at the Taiwan High
Court on June 29.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Press Photographers’ Association
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said
yesterday that he was working on his seventh book in jail and that he expected
the One Side, One Country Alliance (一邊一國連線) he established to make great strides
in municipal elections in 2014.
Chen, who has been in prison since he was convicted of corruption in December
2008, said he “would definitely go out of prison alive and keep working toward
his goal of one country on each side” in a press release issued by his office
yesterday.
The former president, who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence, has been a
productive writer, with three published books — Taiwan’s Crucifix (台灣的十字架), The
1.86 Ping Presidential Office (1.86坪的總統府) and Voices that Can’t Be Locked Up
(關不住的聲音) — and a column for the Chinese-language weekly Next Magazine.
His fourth book, 25 Must-read Lessons for a President (“總統”必讀的二十五堂課), will soon
be published and the fifth is being edited, Chen said, adding that the 60
magazine columns he has written would make up his sixth book.
Chen said he was proud of his alliance’s performance in local council elections
in 2010, with 34 of 41 nominees being elected, giving the alliance 40 incumbent
councilors in various cities across the nation.
His goal for the 2014 elections is to double that number and for the alliance to
reach 1 million supporters, Chen wrote.
Also yesterday, Chen’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), wrote in an opinion piece
titled “The Distance from Darkness to Dawn,” for the Liberty Times (the Taipei
Times’ sister newspaper) to appeal for his father’s release, citing the examples
of US presidents.
US President Barack Obama declined to investigate his predecessor, former US
president George W. Bush, for starting the Iraq War, saying that the country
should instead move forward, the younger Chen wrote.
Former US president Gerald Ford also granted a presidential pardon to his
predecessor, former US president Richard Nixon, who was forced to resign over
the Watergate scandal, he said.
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