This is the 146th issue of "Bay Area Lookout".
Tsai Ing-wen's office has denied that it will "amnesty" Chen Shui-bian
Over the past few days, news about the DPP authorities' "amnesty" of former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian has spread all over the world. However, the latest news shows that the "amnesty" has come to an end, and Chen Shui-bian himself has responded.
According to comprehensive Taiwan media reports, in response to rumors that Tsai Ing-wen will announce an "amnesty" for Chen Shui-bian on the last working day before May 20, Taiwan media took the lead in revealing on the 16th that because Taiwan's administrative team had resigned on the same day and entered the "detention stage", even if Tsai Ing-wen ordered an "amnesty" for Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's administrative organs and legal departments would not be able to complete the follow-up procedures. Therefore, Tsai Ing-wen's statement that she announced an "amnesty" for Chen Shui-bian before leaving office is not valid. A spokesman for Tsai Ing-wen's office officially responded to questions from Taiwan media on the evening of the 16th, saying that in fact, the relevant procedures must be carried out "in accordance with the law", and there is no such decision.
It is worth noting that Tsai Ing-wen's office responded to the media that the rumors surrounding the "amnesty" of Chen Shui-bian were "continued concern about the proper health care of the former leader of the Taiwan region", and did not admit or deny the "amnesty" until the evening of the 16th, when it was clearly stated that "there is no such decision."
In this regard, according to a report by Taiwan's "China Times News Network" on 16 July, Chen Shui-bian quoted You Yinglong, chairman of the board of directors of the "Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation," in an interview, and bluntly said that "Taiwan's administrative team has resigned and cannot complete the 'amnesty'" The statement is full of loopholes and is ridiculous. Taiwan party and government figures also said that the resignation of Taiwan's administrative team is not a problem, and if Tsai Ing-wen issues an "amnesty" order, Taiwan's administrative organs can handle it in accordance with the order.
A few days ago, Chen Shui-bian said on social media platforms that he had "no knowledge of any knowledge of the amnesty" and stressed that "political cases must be resolved politically," meaning that he was not sentenced for breaking the law. However, Chen Shui-bian's "friends" in the literary and art circles revealed on 16 June that Chen Shui-bian's mood was greatly affected after learning that he could not obtain an "amnesty," and that the opening of an art exhibition originally scheduled to be held in Kaohsiung on the afternoon of 17 July was also temporarily canceled. Ko Wen-che, chairman of the Taiwan People's Party, commented on the 17th that the leader of the Taiwan authorities should come out and explain this kind of major incident by himself, and should not use the media to test the direction of the wind, and "the whole incident will eventually become a trick on others."
Chen Shui-bian (data map) Source: Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao"
As the first former leader in the history of the Taiwan region to be sentenced to prison, Chen Shui-bian has always been the subject of constant conversation. As early as 2008, Chen Shui-bian, who had just stepped down from office, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the "Longtan land purchase" case, but just six years after being imprisoned, he was allowed to be "released on medical parole" in 2015 for so-called "health problems" such as dementia and Parkinson's disease. At that time, Taichung Prison, which was "released on bail" for him, put forward the "four noes" principle, that is, "not to go to power, not to give speeches, not to talk about politics, and not to be interviewed", and used regulations such as "rules for the management of medical parole for inmates" to so-called "restrictions". Obviously, however, all of the above has naturally become "empty talk" for Chen Shui-bian, who has never sincerely repented.
After Chen Shui-bian was released from prison, he never stopped, not only going out for a walk, visiting friends, and building momentum for his son's election, but also criticizing current affairs, hosting radio programs, and publishing books. In May last year, Chen Shui-bian's only son, Chen Zhizhong, was sentenced to prison on suspicion of helping his mother Wu Shuzhen launder money. Some media have noticed that although Chen Shui-bian was armed with crutches at that time, he was in high spirits and walked steadily, and the so-called "health problems" seemed to "disappear in smoke." In the words of the Taiwan people, "Chen Shui-bian was too lazy to pretend." It can be seen that the DPP's so-called "judicial justice" is an out-and-out lie.
Don't want an "amnesty" or can't be "amnesty"?
Previously, public opinion on the island once spread that on the issue of "pardoning" Chen Shui-bian, Tsai Ing-wen and Lai Qingde reached a consensus to "pardon" Chen Shui-bian in the form of "pardoning the sentence but not the crime." Guo Zhengliang, a former member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), pointed out that if Tsai Ing-wen "pardons" Chen Shui-bian, she will definitely reach a "political deal" with Lai Qingde. The second is to keep Tsai Ing-wen's security team in office.
Now that the "amnesty" has failed, do you not want to be "amnesty" or can't you "amnesty"? According to Taiwan media, the main reason for the failure of the "amnesty" is that the Taiwan authorities and Chen Shui-bian could not reach a consensus on the "partial 'amnesty'" and the handling of the deducted money, and Chen Shui-bian hoped for an "amnesty" for his innocence, but the Tsai Ing-wen government could not accept it, so the "amnesty" changed. However, when asked by a reporter whether Chen Shui-bian's "amnesty" really failed because of the above two factors, Chen Shui-bian replied that it was "not."
According to an analysis by a person in the green camp, in fact, the issue of "pardoning Bian" has been unable to reach a consensus within the DPP. For example, Lin Zhuoshui once publicly choked out: "Chen Shui-bian has not even apologized, so why should he be pardoned." Lan Ying even emphasized that the prerequisite for the "amnesty" is that Chen Shui-bian must "admit his mistakes, apologize, and repay the money," but Chen Shui-bian has never pleaded guilty in the 16 years since the case was discovered, let alone apologized to society.
In addition, the adverse impact of public opinion has also forced Tsai Ing-wen to give up the "pardon". According to a poll published by Taiwan's TVBS news network, nearly half of the people do not support the "amnesty" of Chen Shui-bian, whether it is "amnesty for punishment or amnesty."
Shi Zhengfeng, a "Taiwan independence" bigwig, believes that this is the result of the failure of the negotiations between Tsai Ing-wen and Lai Qingde. It is rumored that Cai's "pardon Bian" is "exempt from punishment but not crime", that is, he wants to leave half for Lai Qingde to do; However, what Lai Qingde hopes for is "exempt from punishment and crime", and "amnesty" will be done as soon as it is done. If Tsai Ing-wen agrees to do the "whole set", Lai Qingde should agree to Tsai that he will not deal with Tsai's fake academic qualifications in the future. However, Tsai Ing-wen wanted to "share the burden" with Lai Qingde, and each did half of it, and finally the two collapsed.
Former foreign affairs official of the Taiwan authorities, Chieh Wen-chih, speculated that the last-minute blow of the "pardon for Bian-bian" may be due to the explicit opposition of the United States. The Americans deeply hated Chen Shui-bian and believed that Chen Shui-bian had played with the Americans back then. On the one hand, it warned Lai Qingde that "if he plays tricks with the Americans, he will end up like Chen Shui-bian," and on the other hand, he also warned Tsai Ing-wen not to think that she can do anything if she wants to step down.
Author丨Lai Chenlu, the chief writer of Shenzhen Satellite TV Direct News