This is the 143rd issue of "Bay Area Wangqu".
Chen Shui-bian: I don't know anything about the "amnesty."
The rumors surrounding the "amnesty" of Chen Shui-bian by the three DPP leaders in the Taiwan region have once again become the focus of attention on the island in the past few days.
According to a report by Taiwan's "United Daily News" on 10 July, outgoing Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen and leader-elect Lai Ching-te have reached a consensus on "pardoning" Chen Shui-bian and will "pardon" Chen Shui-bian next week, and plan to adopt the method of "pardoning sentences without forgiving crimes" and confiscating about 800 million yuan (NT$, the same below) of the Chen Shui-bian family's criminal proceeds. After Chen Chien-jen, head of Taiwan's administrative agency, resigned from the administrative team on the 16th of this month, Tsai Ing-wen's office will issue the last "amnesty order" during Tsai Ing-wen's tenure.
According to a report by Taiwan's "China Times News Network" on the 11th, some netizens congratulated Chen Shui-bian on social media platforms that he might receive an "amnesty," and Chen Shui-bian immediately responded that he "had nothing to know." As for netizens who believe that "pardoning Bian" is tantamount to admitting guilt, Chen Shui-bian claimed that "political cases must be resolved politically," which means that he was not sentenced because he broke the law.
Chen Shui-bian (data map)
Some people familiar with the matter said that the direction of "amnesty" currently being discussed by Tsai Ing-wen's staff team is mainly aimed at four major cases, including the "Longtan land purchase case," in which Chen Shui-bian was sentenced. If Chen Shui-bian is granted "amnesty," his unfinished sentence will no longer be served. However, there are still four cases of Chen Shui-bian that have not yet been concluded, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to include them in the scope of the "amnesty."
A report by Taiwan's "Dongsen News Cloud" pointed out that the most difficult problem in the current "amnesty" for Chen Shui-bian is how to deal with the more than 1.1 billion yuan of illegal gains that Chen Shui-bian's family has hidden overseas and are known as "700 million yuan from Haijiao." Of these, 300 million yuan has been confiscated, but the more than 800 million yuan that is still being seized is only a frozen fund, and if Chen Shui-bian is granted "amnesty," all the money will probably be returned to the Bian family. In addition, the seized mansions and jewels of the Bian family will also be unfrozen, which may confirm the criticism of the outside world that "the leaders of the Taiwan region can retain the proceeds of crime for corruption."
In this regard, Lin Yuchan, a spokesman for Tsai Ing-wen's office, said on the 10th that Tsai Ing-wen's position is still that she hopes to ensure that Chen Shui-bian receives proper health care and that it is handled in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.
As for whether to support the "amnesty" of Chen Shui-bian, the latest poll results released by Taiwan's TVBS news network on the 10th show that 48 percent of the people interviewed on the island do not support the "amnesty", and some netizens think that Tsai Ing-wen's move is "hypocritical and disgusting", and "those who are about to leave office in a few days have the right to 'amnesty' others?" In response, Chen Shui-bian said in response to netizens on social media platforms, "'Amnesty' is the political privilege of the leader of the Taiwan region, and it has nothing to do with polls."
Chen Shui-bian Refuses to Apologize to Society There is strong opposition on the island
The Chen Shui-bian family's fraud case involved corruption, bribery, money laundering, forgery of documents, and many other crimes. As early as 2006, when Chen Shui-bian was the leader of the Taiwan region, the relevant fraud case was exposed, and he and his wife Wu Shuzhen were exposed to using private invoices to reimburse public funds. At that time, after investigation, Taiwan's courts and procuratorial departments found that Chen Shui-bian and his wife were involved in corruption, but because Chen Shui-bian was a leader at that time and had "criminal immunity," he could not prosecute until he left office, so the procuratorial department could only prosecute Wu Shuzhen and others. In May 2008, Chen Shui-bian left office and lost his "protective umbrella" and was immediately arrested and detained by the procuratorial organs.
In 2015, under the manipulation and pressure of the Democratic Progressive Party, the then ruling Kuomintang approved Chen Shui-bian's "medical parole". When Tsai Ing-wen came to power in May 2016, she turned a blind eye to Chen Shui-bian's illegal actions, and continued to extend the period of his "medical parole" despite knowing that he had violated the rules of "not taking office, not giving speeches, not speaking politics, and not accepting media interviews" for "medical parole". So far, Chen Shui-bian has been "released on medical parole" for nearly 10 years, and it is said that his physical condition has long since improved and he should return to prison to continue serving his sentence, but the DPP authorities have not done anything.
In 2022, the DPP will still rely on itself to be the largest party in Taiwan's legislature to forcibly revise the so-called "Accounting Law" to exonerate Chen Shui-bian and others. The amended regulations read: "For the special expenses incurred by various organs before December 31, 2006, the financial liabilities for reimbursement of expenditures, handling, write-offs, disbursements and other relevant personnel shall be deemed to be discharged, and their administrative and civil liabilities shall not be investigated; In the case of criminal responsibility, no punishment shall be imposed. It was in June 2006 that Chen Shui-bian and his wife were charged with embezzling "official jet fees," and the DPP amended the relevant regulations so that Chen Shui-bian could be exempted from legal responsibility. However, the DPP is not satisfied with this, and is now preparing to "amnesty" Chen Shui-bian.
Source: Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao"
In this regard, the opposition on the island is very strong. The Green Camp argued that the move was aimed at resolving the political confrontation that had arisen over the Bian case for a long time, but the Blue Camp stressed that the prerequisite for the "amnesty" was that Chen Shui-bian must "admit his mistakes, apologize, and repay the money." Chen Shui-bian has never pleaded guilty in the 16 years since the case was discovered, let alone apologized to society. On the same day, Xu Yuzhen, a representative of the Chinese Kuomintang, criticized that only 22 percent of the polls supported the "amnesty" of Chen Shui-bian, but Tsai Ing-wen insisted on the "amnesty" despite the opposition of the people, just to repay the kindness of the people who helped her back then.
In addition, Shen Fu-hsiung, Taiwan's "famous mouth" who was born in the green camp, also said in a political discussion program on the island on 10 June that if Chen Shui-bian does not apologize to everyone, he will not be able to escape the stigma left by history for the rest of his life. Host Zhao Shaokang said that "admitting mistakes, apologizing, and repaying money" are indispensable, and Chen Shui-bian must admit that he has committed a crime, apologize, and say that he is sorry for the Taiwan people and that the money must be returned.
Tsai Ing-wen is about to step down, what is the purpose of "amnesty" Chen Shui-bian?
Over the past few days, Taiwan's media have been discussing the purpose of the "amnesty" for Chen Shui-bian. According to Taiwan media, in the past eight years, although the DPP has repeatedly hoped that Tsai Ing-wen will be able to "pardon" Chen Shui-bian, Tsai has not moved at all, and now that she is about to step down, there is news of "amnesty." In addition, Lai Qingde has always been very flat, and the Chen Shui-bian case has long been forgotten, so the outside world is curious about who is revisiting the old matter to measure the direction of the wind?
Hong Kong's "Ta Kung Pao" published an article entitled "'Amnesty' Chen Shui-bian' The Democratic Progressive Party Has Stopped 'Acting'" in its column "Viewing the Landscape from the Sea" on 10 July. The article points out that the DPP has been obsessed with "saving Bian" all these years, on the one hand, because Chen Shui-bian's daughter Chen Xingyu shouted "Who hasn't taken my father's money?" this sentence made it difficult for DPP politicians to sleep and eat, so they racked their brains to "save Bian" in order to "have peace of mind." On the other hand, the DPP is trying to erase the stain of the "Chen Shui-bian family malpractice case" and feels that as long as it "pardons" Chen Shui-bian, the malpractice case in which he is involved will "disappear" and the DPP will not have to bear the taint of Chen Shui-bian.
There is also public opinion that Tsai Ing-wen may face legal sanctions when she steps down, and the key reason is her doctoral dissertation fraud case. It is rumored that people who have previously tracked down her doctoral dissertation, including Lin Huanqiang, a scholar in the United States, will thoroughly investigate the falsification of her doctoral dissertation at the London School of Economics and Political Science after May 20, and if it is later determined that it is a fake doctoral dissertation, Tsai Ing-wen will be guilty of forgery and fraud, both of which have a maximum sentence of five years.
Therefore, there are voices on the island saying that before Tsai Ing-wen leaves office, she preempts Lai Qingde and "pardons" Chen Shui-bian. On the one hand, the "amnesty" of Chen Shui-bian can curry favor with his supporters in exchange for them politically pressuring the Lai Qingde authorities not to hunt down Tsai Ing-wen's doctoral dissertation fraud case. On the other hand, if Tsai Ing-wen is prosecuted for falsifying her doctoral dissertation, Lai Qingde can also invoke the precedent to give her an "amnesty".
Some analysts also pointed out that the "amnesty" established Tsai Ing-wen's political status in the DPP in one fell swoop, balanced Tsai Lai's voice in the "dark green", and even squeezed Lai Qingde's voice in the DPP.
Of course, Tsai Ing-wen knows that the "amnesty" of Chen Shui-bian is an extremely controversial and influential decision. Chen Shui-bian has continued to complain and refused to admit his guilt, and there has not yet been a final verdict in the relevant case, which has curryed favor with the "Taiwan independence" doctrine faction and the green camp, but it may cause a lot of public resentment. Therefore, Tsai Ing-wen is trying to deceive the public and reduce the social impact by confiscating the NT$1.1 billion that has been seized by the Chen Shui-bian family. However, Tsai Ing-wen's wishful thinking seems to be playing well, but the Taiwanese people will surely add another indictment of the DPP's corruption.
Author丨Lai Chenlu, the chief writer of Shenzhen Satellite TV Direct News