The USA Heritage Foundation Further Lays Bare the KMT's Current Abuse of Justice

Tuesday November 18, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) controlled judiciary in Taiwan continues to abuse its powers. At present it conducts both a witch hunt and fishing expedition in its attempt to squelch its opposition party the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Former President Chen Shui-bian has been arrested and led away in handcuffs but to date no formal charges have been leveled against him. Likewise in abusing their powers they have arrested and held incommunicado numerous others of the DPP. These are all held in prison under the guise that they will now obstruct justice in a case that has been tendered and pursued for a long time.

These arrests began in intensity after Ma Ying-jeou became president. As such they give the KMT judiciary the continued free reign to try all defendants by the media as they leak false information and rumors to a sensationalist press without allowing the victims of those rumors the chance to respond. The only concrete amount that is listed that Chen is suspected of laundering is approximately US$450 thousand. While this fishing expedition goes on the judiciary hopes they can work a deal from those incarcerated so that someone will give any testimony (true or false) against Chen Shui-bian.

For outsiders who have little history of Taiwan, Current President Ma Ying-jeou's secretary was found guilty of placing a similar amount of money in the bank account of Ma. He is in jail and has lost a second appeal of his case. His only hope is that Ma as President will give him a presidential pardon for taking the fall. As one looks at the double standard of the judiciary; Ma was never led away in handcuffs even though he was indicted for the money laundering charge. (Chen has not been indicted.) Likewise Ma never spent time in jail for his indictment; yet Chen Shui-bian suffers in jail with no charges yet assessed against him. Ma was declared not guilty despite the fact that the money was in his bank account. He did not want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Similarly, James Soong, founder of the People's First Party (PFP) which sides with the KMT in legislative matters, was convicted of laundering similar amounts three times. Yes that word is convicted. And the number of times is three. Yet Soong was never led away in handcuffs nor did Soong spend time in jail.

With this background in an effort that will further expose this double standard, Heritage Foundation in the USA is hosting a seminar on this very topic. The speaker is Ching Jyh Shieh who also suffered a similar KMT abuse of power when he was held in jail for a year and put on trial for a year only to be found innocent. Details are listed below. Those in the Washington DC area can attend; others can watch it live on the internet.

Taiwan, Democracy, and the Rule of Law

Ching Jyh Shieh

Former Deputy Minister of the National Science Council, Taiwan, ROC

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Time: 10:30 am

Place: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium

Taiwan's democracy is a proud achievement. Among the more serious challenges in its continuing development are legitimate questions regarding due process and appropriate judicial procedure. Joining us for a discussion of these issues is someone who literally is a rocket scientist, Ching Jyh Shieh. Dr. Shieh lived through a two-year process of detention, trial, and eventual acquittal on July 30 this year. His personal experience sheds light on the seriousness of the problem in Taiwan, its context and what can be done to fix it.

All events can be viewed live at heritage.org