Taiwanese corruption – hypocricy in the extreme

Hey, guys. Raj here. Just a little something I thought you lot might find interesting ref the President Chen “corruption” scandals in Taiwan…..

The BBC has a report on the latest developments from Taiwan into on-going corruption scandals concerning President Chen Shui-bian.

Taiwan first lady cleared of graft

The wife of Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian has been cleared of wrongdoing by prosecutors investigating a corruption scandal. Wu Shu-chen was accused of accepting vouchers from a department store in return for her influence. Prosecutors said there was no evidence that she had intervened during the Sogo store’s takeover in 2004.

In case you missed it, the KMT opposition party pushed these allegations as a means of attacking her husband, President Chen. So are the rails now coming off the Chen-corruption wagon? Maybe. It’s interesting that his opponents attack people around him more than the man himself, in the hope that they can pull him down at the same time. But they can’t even get that right.

On the other hand, the KMT’s allegations of corruption are a lot like the pot calling the kettle black….

Ma: “It’s ok to take public funds – everyone does it!”

Yeah, that was his excuse. Everyone does it. So why is it ok for the KMT to pinch the public’s money and not President Chen, if he really is corrupt? Hmm, let me guess – because Chen’s an easy target due to flagging popularity? Or maybe just because the KMT considers Taiwanese taxpayers’ money its own private bank account….

KMT’s theft of public assets

“The Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] has stolen billions of dollars from the people over the past century. They never returned the money to the people. Can this be called `clean?'” Su said.

Of course this has not been proven in court, but then again we are talking about the party that ran Taiwan for decades not unlike the way in which the CCP runs China. You won’t find many people on the island that think the KMT didn’t take public money – the only dispute is how much the total figure is.

So I’m just going to recap what the situation is – it makes my head hurt sometimes.

President Chen is accused of “corruption”, but without specific details. Those in his family are accused, but already some of those claims are showing to be a load of nonsense. On the other hand we have the KMT, whose leader admits to moving public funds into his personal bank account and runs a party that stole millions, if not billions, of US dollars from the Taiwanese public. And supposedly the KMT are the good guys fighting against corruption.

As Dr Evil would say, “Riiiiiiiiight………………………”

The Discussion: 13 Comments

KMT also took all that gold from mainland and used it in Taiwan. Hey, maybe the CCP should ask for a refund too.

All that treasure in the museums. They must go back too:)

October 3, 2006 @ 11:14 am | Comment

BTW, do politicians in Taiwan have to file expensive gifts as income, assuming there is a joint filing?

October 3, 2006 @ 11:17 am | Comment

Yep, they stole that gold and built on the infrastructue laid down by Japan, and established one of the strongest economies in Asia (interesting that of the four Asian tigers, three of them have a majority Chinese population, while none are in mainland china).

Yeah, the treasure in the museams. If they were given back prior to the 70’s, who’s to say China wouldn’t have just melted them down in the cultural revolution? Taiwan should be thanked for preserving Chinese culture. England for that matter, too

October 3, 2006 @ 1:55 pm | Comment

Honestly, taking a break from the polarising politic, I could remember a time I regarded Chen Shui Bien fondly. No matter how much you disagreed with A-Bien on policy, both blue and green generally trusted him to be a clean politician.

Especially for my parent’s generation, A-Bien is practically part of history; a romantic character in the long narrative of Taiwan’s transformation into a democracy. People idolized A-Bien so much that when he was elected in 2000, the enthusiasm was palpable. People expected him to take the country to a bright future.

Today, I am only extremely disappointed. Even long after I totally rejected him on policy-ground, I have never imagined him to be corrupt. The betrayal of politic trust is immense.

October 3, 2006 @ 2:21 pm | Comment

I really dislike Ah Bian. Ever since he became president, Taiwan has declined so rapidly.

Unemployment rate has soared and so is the crime rate. Read this:

http://th.gio.gov.tw/show.cfm?news_id=8615

Suicide rate has also risen rapidly. Read here:

http://tinyurl.com/lf2y8

As a result more and more Taiwanese are disillusioned with Taiwan and rather migrate elsewhere. Read here:

http://tinyurl.com/jjyua

He really made a mess of Taiwan. The sooner he goes, the better for Taiwan.

EDIT: Links shrunk – please do NOT put big links like that in there. Use tinyurl instead.

October 3, 2006 @ 10:56 pm | Comment

Leo,

First, as I pointed out in the edit please do not use long links – it makes the page stretch.

Second none of those things has anything to do with corruption. Unemployment has gone up, but that’s mostly to do with the 2001 economic crisis. It’s been dropping ever since (and is massively lower than the mainland unemployment rate). So that should show he’s managed things well, not poorly.

Or do you blame President Chen for the 2001 Asian economic crisis too? đŸ˜€

October 4, 2006 @ 2:34 am | Comment

If the current dirt digging can lead to a cleaner government, I am all for it. Those in power have to learn that people have less tolerance, now a new awareness is brought to the forefront. Just because KMT has such a pathetic record when it comes to corruption, Taiwanese people have to suffer more even when it is not in power? It looks like that is some of the arguments above is saying. To maintain a healthy political environment, Taiwan needs two strong parties. Both would come clean, if the other party is doing its job. No one should expect to get away from wrongdoings. And that goes for both parties. I know some may be laughing, but that is so I hope.

Pan-blue certainly has a hand in the current movement to oust Chen. I just don’t know how much of that is actually coming from the Ma camp. If it is not obvious to you, Ma is only in this half-heartedly, to the point of strictly posturing, bending to the tremendous pressure from the blue. When his poll was already at such level before all these, he has nothing to gain to see Chen leave prematurely. It was so not in his plan, but he was force to respond. We all know Chen’s leaving would not end DDP rule and no one views Lu more favorably then Chen in any way, except, that she is clean and not indebt to some of the forces out there.

It would be wrong to see the latest movement as instigated by the blue only. It is much more than that. Just watch the positions of the usual solid green supporters, the green scholars and the DPP youth corps. It would also be wrong to view blue as one monolithic group. Ma was picked to run his party not by the KMT establishment, if you know, but rather by the average joes in its membership. He was a breath of fresh air and supposedly was to rid of the party of years of bad behaviors. It sent the KMT establishment running, something just short of a purge has already taken place. Whether the promise can be delivered or not, it’s everyone’s opinion. It is a step in the right direction, nonetheless. It is to the best interest of Taiwanese people if that were to occur. Forget what KMT have done, going forward, Taiwan needs two strong political parties. It is sad to see DPP declined to the current point in such a short span. From the look of it, it is prepared to go out in flame by moving on the proposal to amend the constitution.

October 4, 2006 @ 6:23 am | Comment

Jesus!

1. The KMT did not take all the gold. As Seagrave pointed out, when Chiang went to loot the treasury, it was already gone. The currency was stabilized in Taiwan by US dollar deposits under various aid programs, and the resumption of economic life.

2. The unemployment rate in Taiwan is at a six year low. Chen does not control the economy.

3. of course the current anti-Chen protests are a Blue project. Shih has been allied to the Blues for six years. The bulk of protesters are Blues — New Party types, according to Bo Tedards, who should know. Sure there are a few naive idealists in there.

Bottom line folks. There is no evidence that Chen is corrupt. Grow up and face the evidence, folks.

Michael

October 4, 2006 @ 8:16 am | Comment

Hey, maybe US needs to ask for the money back. At 8.5 trillion deficit, we need it.

BTW, thank KMT for preserving those Chinese treasures and keeping them away from those red commie nuts.

October 4, 2006 @ 10:05 am | Comment

I think they should send those treasures back. They don’t belong to Taiwan.

October 4, 2006 @ 5:10 pm | Comment

Meh. England is keeping the Elgin Marbles and I think Taiwan’s claim on the National Museum collection is stronger, seeing as the collection might not have survived the cultural revolution if it remained in China.

A bit more on the gold Chiang did and did not take out of China, from Seagrave’s “the Soong Dynasty”:
“Chiang’s real reason for coming to town was to get Bit-eared Tu and the Green Gang to help him rob the bank of China. He wanted the money badly. He had no intention of fleeing to Taiwan without it. His hopes for the gold yuan had collapsed after only a few months, when word got out that there really was no gold to back the new currency. The gold had been there at one time — six miillion ounces of it. While half of that had vanished with the Soongs and Kungs, according to official charges, the remaining half had just vanished. What gold there was left in China was private gold still in this bank.”

I’m sure he had a nice kitty of travelling funds, but it was “what gold there was left in China” rather than “all the gold in China.”

October 4, 2006 @ 8:36 pm | Comment

the most current issue, people go again Chien not only because of the scandle, but also because he misuse offical money (i don’t know how we call it in english).

He and his wife ask around for receipt in order to claim the money for personal (maybe not) use, witnesses prove that both of them did ask around for receipts.

This is the reason I go against him, I would prefer a clean one to step on, rather then let me stay in the position.

October 5, 2006 @ 1:33 am | Comment

raj, you’re an idiot.
when did ma ever say its ok to take public funds. that article you linked is weak. he increased his salary by 1 million NT in the last 6 years? that’s $30k usd. you and i get a bigger raise than that!
and what do you mean the corruption has nothing to do with chen da-bien??? what about the 35 million NT a year of state funds he stole to personal use??

October 18, 2006 @ 1:49 am | Comment

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