Statement
We, the bloggers of Taiwan Matters, stand in solidarity with National Taiwan University Professor Lee Ming-tsung (李明璁) following his indictment last month on charges of violating the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法).

Professor Lee participated in a protest in November 2008 with a group of students which later came to be known as the "Wild StrawBerries Movement." They had three specific demands [edited here for formatting, clarity, spelling, and completeness]:

1. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) must publicly apologize to all citizens [for creating the situation which allowed the police to treat protesters the way they did during Chen Yunlin's (陳雲林) visit to Taiwan].

2. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) and National Security Bureau Director Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明) must step down [to take responsibility for the police brutality that occurred as a result of the massive police presence].

3. The Legislative Yuan (行政院) must revise the Parade and Assembly Law (集會遊行法), which currently restricts the rights of the people [and which are set to become even more repressive early in 2009]. [This is basically a simple demand for "Freedom of Assembly."]

If there had been sufficient reason to charge Professor Lee, it could have been done at the time of the protest instead of seven months later.

In the interim, political persecution, threats, and violence have with increasing frequency been carried out against those who are active in their opposition to the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration's policies of moving politically closer to China and reversing the progress made during Taiwan's transition to sovereign democracy over the past twenty years.

The current administration has severely undermined the integrity of Taiwan's judicial system with its continued detention of former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) while justice officials perform skits mocking the defendant. Despite President Ma's promises that he would reform the Assembly and Parade Act, all indications are that it will become a stricter law than it was previously.

In fact, more laws infringing on free speech are being passed. One example is the Act Governing the Administrative Impartiality of Public Officials (公務人員行政中立法):

The Act prohibits academics from wearing or displaying flags or emblems of any political parties or groups at teachers' or researchers' offices. It also prohibits academics from convening demonstrations, launching signature bids and the editing, printing or distribution of political flyers or related documents using public equipment at public offices. The Examination Yuan and the Executive Yuan are also authorized to impose more bans through administrative orders.

The indictment of Professor Lee is yet another example to add to the ever-growing list of partisan indictments which strongly suggest systemized political persecution. There is no political capital to be gained by such actions, except perhaps in Beijing.

What we need in Taiwan is justice, not the "just us" mentality that is currently being demonstrated by the Ma administration.

To summarize, we stand behind Professor Lee Ming-tsung in his rational, nonviolent attempts to defend and deepen Taiwan's democracy. As long as the current government's policies continue to carry us backward toward an authoritarian past, the protests are likely to grow.

Signed,
The Taiwan Matters blog team

FURTHER READING/VIEWING:
Learn more about the controversial practices of the current judicial system.

* The Alliance for Democracy and Human Rights (捍衛民主人權陣線) harshly criticizes the Ma administration and shows strong support for Professor Lee as well as for National Taiwan Normal University (國立台灣師範大學) Professor Lin Chia-fan (林佳範) in the wake of his indictment on charges similar to those being pressed against Professor Lee.

* The Monday, July 13, 2009 edition of the Taipei Times has an editorial piece by Chiu Hei-yuan (瞿海源) called "The Act that silences academics."

* The Tuesday, July 14, 2009 Taipei Times reports that "More than 120 academics and human rights activists said yesterday they would turn themselves in to prosecutors for breaking the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) in a protest against the legislation." Read all about it in an article titled "Activists, academics 'surrender' to protest law."

* The full text of the new Act Governing the Administrative Impartiality of Public Officials (公務人員行政中立法) can be read in English on Brock Freeman's blog.

* Read David Reid's recent post on how the Assembly Law attacks freedom of speech.

* Taiwan Echo blogs in English and Hanzi on the illegal reasoning behind the latest extension of the detention of Chen Shui-bian: Lawless Taipei District Court extends Chen's detention based on illegal taping; 目無法紀的蔡守訓與台北地院用違法盜錄的看守所對話延長對扁的羈押

* Read a March 2009 statement from Chen Shui-bian (translated into English) which mentions interference by Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰).

* Watch Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng in August 2008 publicly discussing details of the ongoing investigation into the case against Chen Shui-bian as covered by New Taiwan Forum (新台灣論壇), FTV (民視新聞台), and Talking Show (大話新聞).

* Read Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng's denial of what you see happening in the three video clips above.

---

Tags: Taiwan, 台灣, Lee Ming-tsung, 李明璁, Assembly and Parade Act, 集會遊行法, Ministry of Justice, 法務部, Wang Ching-feng, 王清峰, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Assembly and Parade Act, Chen Shui-bian, Lee Ming-tsung, Ministry of Justice, Taiwan, Wang Ching-feng, 台灣, 李明璁, 法務部, 王清峰, 陳水扁, 集會遊行法

When they come for you, will there be anyone left to speak up?

Friend of Taiwan Luby Liao has a petition online demanding the immediate release of former President Chen Shui-Bian (陳水扁). The text of the petition reads as follows:

We the undersigned decry the increasing abuse of power by Taiwan's Ministry of Justice and its prosecutors as they violate the human rights of Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian and deny him due process of law in the current case against him. While neither making a judgment as to the guilt or innocence of Chen, we are appalled at the way that he is being unduly imprisoned (over 160 days and counting) as well as how his attorney-client privileges have been violated. In contrast to numerous past violators of money-laundering from the opposite political camp who have either never been detained or have received only a slap on the wrist by the courts when found guilty, Chen is being hounded and persecuted in what is an apparent political vendetta.

We hereby condemn the persecution and the violation of human rights conducted by the justice system and demand that Chen be released immediately.

Here's my own contribution (I'm #43) plus links that I didn't include in the original [as usual, hover your cursor on the links for more info]:

From the recording of Chen's conversations with his lawyers, to the judges' skit mocking Chen, to the one-sided leaks of information to the pro-KMT-dominated media, to the release of a wanted criminal who made statements against Chen, to the switching of the presiding judge to the same one who declared Ma Ying-jeou innocent (in a case where Ma admitted to depositing around NT$15 million of what he called "public funds" into his personal bank account) [Correction: "only" about NT$11 million went into his and his wife's accounts, but another NT$80,000/month (times eight years = NT$7,680,000) was used "to reward staff members," too], to the latest tacked-on charges, to punishing Chen for using hunger strikes to protest this kangaroo court, this has been a total travesty of justice.

On the blog with the petition, you can also sign up for the "I Love Taiwan" Google Group.

Why should I speak up?
If you have any doubts whatsoever, perhaps a reminder of the words of Martin Niemöller will help you make up your mind:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me.

Now's your chance. Say something.

---

John Hancocks: Taiwan, 台灣, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, special allowance fund, 特支費, petition, 簽署

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chen Shui-bian, Ma Ying-jeou, petition, special allowance fund, Taiwan, 台灣, 特支費, 簽署, 陳水扁, 馬英九

Stuck in a rut

A new survey released just yesterday which was conducted by the pro-blue Global Views Magazine puts President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) approval rating at 28.6% [648 KB PDF file] -- down 5.9 percentage points from last month's 34.5% [316 KB PDF file].

Back at the Ma-World Theme Park, this might be considered a "bounce," since his approval rating in October 2008 was only 23.6% -- about the same as TVBS says [156 KB PDF file] Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) current approval rating is.

BTW, the Global Views survey listed above gives Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) (Ma's party) legislators an overall approval rating of only 19.9%.

Worst. Legislators. Evah.

Who's your daddy?
Keep in mind that all of the polls quoted above favor Ma and the KMT -- while book sales recently put Chen at #1:

When I photographed this in February 2009,
Chen Shui-bian's book "Taiwan's Cross" (台灣的十字架) was
in the number one spot at Eslite Bookstore (誠品書店),
beating Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father."
(Click to enlarge)
Who's the failest [sic] of them all?
At a press conference today, Ma had this to say in response to a reporter's question about his "political achievements" behind the low approval rating he has just 10 months in office [transcription via SETN, translation mine]:

我們覺得大的方向都是正確的 但是溝通的工作應該更加強。

We believe that we're moving mostly in the right direction, but we need to work harder at communicating.

Ma seems to have been consulting his "magic mirror" again.

Expect even more mendacious propaganda.

---

Nodes: Taiwan, 台灣, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, surveys, 民調

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chen Shui-bian, Ma Ying-jeou, surveys, Taiwan, 台灣, 民調, 陳水扁, 馬英九

Number one bestseller (Humanities & Science)

No matter what the pro-China/pro-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) media want you to believe, Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is still not "unpopular."


Chen Shui-bian's book "Taiwan's Cross" (台灣的十字架) is
in the number one spot at Eslite Bookstore (誠品書店),
beating Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father."
(Click to enlarge)

---

Literary limnings: Taiwan, 台灣, deep thoughts, 深思, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, book, 書本

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: book, Chen Shui-bian, deep thoughts, Taiwan, 台灣, 書本, 深思, 陳水扁

Chen vs. Chen

In the "final ruling" of a slander case filed by Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) against Minister of National Defense Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) because the latter said regarding the March 19, 2004 shooting of the former that "the shooting case must have been staged," Chen Chao-min was found "not guilty."

High court spokesman Wen Yao-yuan (溫耀源) said that it didn't amount to slander because Chen Chao-min's statement was in line with the findings of the [unconstitutional] "319 Truth Commission" (319 槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會) [MORE: 1, 2, 3] (led by now-Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng [王清峰] -- who once told a reporter that the commission didn't have the money to come up with any evidence [!]).

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) appointees once again make groundless allegations with impunity, but Wang Ching-feng pretends that the KMT can't control the courts. She takes the public for fools. Personally, I hope that the Taiwanese never forget what former president of the Executive Yuan, Hsu Shui-teh (KMT), once said: "The courts belong to us." ("法院是我們家[國民黨]開的.")

---

Exhibits for the defense: Taiwan, 台灣, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, 319 Truth Commission, 319 槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會, Chen Chao-min, 陳肇敏, judiciary, 司法

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: 319 Truth Commission, 319 槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會, Chen Chao-min, Chen Shui-bian, judiciary, Taiwan, 台灣, 司法, 陳水扁, 陳肇敏

Money laundering, corruption, and forgery?

The Saturday Taipei Times has the details in English, fellow blogger Echo posts about it in Chinese, and if you've got the language ability and an iron stomach, here's the indictment itself (956 KB PDF file) -- all 208 pages of it.

The Friday night edition of Talking Show (大話新聞) also had a lengthy discussion of the topic. Readers of this blog who view the show should be aware that the hard copies possessed by both host Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀) and guest Chen Ming-yi (陳明義) (Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] spokes-whiner) differ from the PDF I downloaded in more ways than one.

Remember, an indictment is not a verdict, and the suspect was detained at the Taipei Detention Center for an entire month before these official charges were even made.

---

Trumped-up charges: Taiwan, 台灣, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, state affairs fund, 國務機要費, indictment, 起訴書

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chen Shui-bian, indictment, state affairs fund, Taiwan, 台灣, 國務機要費, 起訴書, 陳水扁

Another dark day in Taiwan's history

In yet another incredibly provocative move by the still-new Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) government, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was handcuffed by police and taken into custody this afternoon. A trial by public opinion has been conducted by leaking information and using the media to create an impression of guilt based on insinuation before actual evidence has been shown to the public.

Breaking News
Talking Show (大話新聞) just reported that Chen Shui-bian was beaten* (被打) by court bailiffs (法警) and that spokesman for the Wild Strawberries (野草莓) student protesters, National Taiwan University associate professor of sociology Lee Ming-tsung, (李明璁) was beaten by 4 police.

* UPDATE: This probably needs a clarification, but I'm not sure what kind yet. Reporters from ETTV and TVBS -- both very blue stations -- said that X-rays and other information indicated that Chen was indeed injured. Wednesday's Taipei Times mentions the claim that Chen "had been struck by a bailiff." [/update]

When they're at your front door, it'll be too late. Are you just gonna sit there, or are you going to go wake everybody up?

---

Blunt trauma wounds: Taiwan, 台灣, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, state affairs fund, 國務機要費, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, martial law, 戒嚴, police state, 警察國家, violence, 暴力

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chen Shui-bian, Ma Ying-jeou, martial law, police state, state affairs fund, Taiwan, violence, 台灣, 國務機要費, 戒嚴, 暴力, 警察國家, 陳水扁, 馬英九

The truth is out there

Fellow blogger Michael Turton has already blogged about the latest scandal surrounding former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), and today's Taipei Times has some details:

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) apologized yesterday for failing to fully declare his past campaign funds and wiring a large sum overseas, but denied embezzling money from the government.

Chen said that all the money he had ever accepted was for election purposes, adding that his wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), was responsible for managing his funds, including any amount left from previous campaigns.

Chen read from a written statement and did not take any questions during a press conference yesterday afternoon, leaving his attorney Richard Lee (李勝琛) to deal with the media after he left.

Chen said his conscience drove him to come out and apologize because he could no longer lie to himself or the public.

"I have done something that is not allowed by the law," he said. "I owe the public an apology for falsely declaring my campaign funding for the past four Taipei mayoral and presidential elections."

What raised the most doubt for me was that people like Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) are the ones presenting this information to the public, but today, it sounds like Chen is contradicting what he said yesterday. This makes that part about Chen's "conscience dr[iving] him to come out and apologize" sound like bullshit.

Additionally, I've heard that Chen's son and daughter-in-law are currently out of the country.

WTF?!

This will most likely present a serious challenge for the DPP in the years to come.

A-gu (阿牛) is following the Chinese-language news on this one, and he brings readers the latest info about Chen and Wu's resignation from the DPP.

Whatever happens in this case, beware of the presentation, and focus on the facts.

---

Interjections: Taiwan, 台灣, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, A-bian, 阿扁, Wu Shu-jen, Wu Shu-chen, 吳淑珍

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: A-bian, Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan, Wu Shu-chen, Wu Shu-jen, 台灣, 吳淑珍, 阿扁, 陳水扁

Two standards to fool them all?

The standard by which TVBS (AKA BS-TV) judges Taiwan's new president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is poles apart from that by which they have handed down judgment on former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

A post on the SocialForce.tw forum brings us the links, quotes, and commentary. I've merely provided the translations:

(->) 政院擬降稅　汽油可能只漲4.5元 2008年5月27日 [TVBS article, via Yahoo News]

Executive Yuan to incrementally raise gas prices, price might only go up NT$4.5 -- May 27, 2008

來看一下舊新聞:

Let's look at some older news:

(->) 超貴！油價漲2元　最快今公佈 2006年4月18日 [TVBS article]

Super expensive! Gas prices to go up NT$2, today at the earliest -- April 18, 2006

..................
[Excerpt:] 一大早加油站就湧進大批人潮，因為油價這回不但要漲，
可能還一次漲2元，創下歷史新高。

The large early-morning crowd at gas stations was not only because of the price increases, but possibly also because this is a record high.
..................
[Excerpt:] 假設以每公升調漲2元來計算，民眾平均每次加油40到50公升，
油費就會多出將近100元，累積開銷相當可觀。

Assuming a NT$2 price increase times 40 to 50 liters per tank will add close to NT$100 to the average person's fill-up, adding up to a considerable amount over time.
..................

(->) 油價狂漲！　馬痛批：扁政府做太差 2007年10月30日 [TVBS article]

Insane gasoline price hike! Ma complains: Chen government is doing a terrible job -- October 30, 2007

[Commentary:] 漲了4.5元叫"只漲",漲了2元叫"超貴,歷史新高",
2>4.5...?
記者的邏輯,令人費解.....
奇怪,今天記者們怎麼不幫民眾算加一次油要多花多少錢?
3.9*50=195 快200元耶
民眾活不下去了啦~~~~~

An increase of NT$4.5 is called "only," whereas an increase of NT$2 is "super expensive, a historic high."
Is 2 greater than 4.5?
The reporter's logic is puzzling.
Isn't it strange that today's reporters can't help people calculate what the additional costs of filling up will be?
NT$3.9 times 50 [liters per tank] equals 195 -- almost NT$200!
Regular people can't survive, la~!

[Sarcastic commentary:] 扁政府真是做太差了,沒能力讓大家看到這種排隊加油沒有盡頭的奇蹟,
馬先生好棒啊!

The Chen Shui-bian government did such a poor job, not being able to let everyone experience the wonder of neverending gas lines. Mr. Ma is great!

I suppose the sarcasm in the final paragraph is obvious to most people, but I want to point it out just in case there might be some stubborn Ma fans out there who still don't get it.

Photographic documentation
I do have one thing to add to this. Here's a composite photo showing the gas prices last night and then tonight:


C'mon feel the joys!
(and then demand some alternatives!)
Even saying "I told you so" won't make me feel better.

---

Red balloons: Taiwan, 台灣, Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, gas prices, 油價, TVBS

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chen Shui-bian, gas prices, Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan, TVBS, 台灣, 油價, 陳水扁, 馬英九

Bluer than blue, badder than bad

Wednesday's Liberty Times (自由時報) had a headline story which their sister paper, the Taipei Times somehow missed [following translations by Tim Maddog]:

恐嚇總統、官員、立委、主播 前調查員落網

Former investigator who threatened the president, public officials, legislators, and commentators caught in dragnet

〔記者黃敦硯、邱燕玲、楊國文／台北報導〕陳水扁總統上週接獲威脅陳總統小心兩顆子彈、揚言強暴陳幸妤、綁架小安安的「恐嚇賀歲卡」，警方昨天在北縣中和市逮捕涉案的前調查員楊清海，並依筆跡鑑定與子彈批號發現，楊嫌從九十四年十一月起，即寄子彈恐嚇信給時任行政院長謝長廷，及署名「黑合會秘書長」寄恐嚇信給民代、官員與主播等，目前查出至少犯案卅起。

(Reporters Huang Tun-yan, Chiu Yan-ling, Yang Kuo-wen [spelling of all names guessed phonetically] / Taipei) Last week, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) received threats in a "New Year greeting card" telling him to beware of two bullets, that his daughter Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤) would be raped, and that his grandson Chao Yi-an (趙翊安) would be kidnapped. Yesterday [Tuesday], police in Taipei County's Chungho City arrested former investigator Yang Ching-hai (楊清海), based upon his handwriting and the batch numbers on the bullets. Beginning in November of 2005, the suspect mailed bullets as a threat to then-premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), signing his letter at "Secretary-General of the Black Collective." He also sent threatening letters to other elected representatives, officials, commentators, and others, and so far, he is suspected of involvement in at least 30 cases.

30 cases! It's about time they caught this guy.

What comes around goes around
The words "Black Collective" (黑合會) mentioned above are a variation of the word "triad" (三合會), with the word for "three" replaced with the Mandarin word for "black," representing here the underworld of criminal gangs, the Mafia, etc. I found one article in the Taipei Times which refers to this "group" simply as the "Heiho Association." The connection there is that the writer of the threatening letters containing bullets said that the recipients would end up like Taipei County councilor Wu Shan-jeou (吳善九) of the People First Party (PFP), who was shot dead in his office on May 23, 2007. According to the aforementioned article, "Wu had also received a threatening letter containing a bullet."

According to information I've heard elsewhere, Yang is suspected of having mailed bullets to some people -- such as Talking Show (大話新聞) host Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀) -- because they were "pro Taiwan independence," and of mailing bullets to people like former legislator Li Ao (李敖) because they were "too weak." Does this make him "neither blue nor green"? Perhaps he'd be better described as "bluer than blue."

A look at his past
A search of the Taipei Times for Yang's name brings up this single news item from 1999:

Playing secretly recorded tapes through loud speakers and making accusations in front of a curious crowd, a Buddhist nun who claimed to have been raped by a respected elderly monk yesterday turned what was supposed to be a solemn religious ceremony into a fiasco, with loudspeakers playing what can only be regarded as decidedly secular content.

The monk, known as Master Juhsu (如虛), had planned to preside at a ceremony at a Taipei monastery yesterday, but failed to show up to avoid "disturbances."

In the absence of the master, Miaowen (妙文) -- the nun making the accusations -- demanded that Juhsu take off his cassock and apologize to her for what she said was his alleged sexual offenses against her. Miaowen has filed charges of rape against Juhsu, who was her master 12 years ago at a Buddhist temple in Taichung, central Taiwan.

The 40-year-old nun claimed to have spoken to four other nuns who said they had been sexually assaulted by the same man.

Miaowen and dozens of her sympathizers, before hearing of his decision to stay away, had expected to confront Juhsu during the hand-over ceremony, and brought with them loud speakers and banners.

[...]

Miaowen's spokesman, Yang Ching-hai (楊清海), a former agent of the Investigation Bureau, said he had checked the authenticity of the tapes before he promised to help Miaowen, after hearing suggestions that they had been tampered with.

Yang admitted that Miaowen had planned what she wanted from the conversation, prior to the call with Juhsu, which she recorded without him knowing it.

"According to my own judgement on the basis of evidence provided by Miaowen, I think she is telling the truth," Yang said.

Very disturbing. I hope to learn much more about this Yang character in the very near future.

UPDATE: The suspect and his girlfriend have both been released on NT$100,000 bail. WTF?! Keep your eyes open for another "fled to China" story real soon.

---

Pieces of the puzzle: Taiwan, 台灣, Yang Ching-hai, 楊清海, Chen Shui-bian, 陳水扁, Frank Hsieh, 謝長廷, Talking Show, 大話新聞, Cheng Hung-yi, 鄭弘儀, Li Ao, 李敖

Cross-posted at Taiwan Matters!

Labels: Chen Shui-bian, Cheng Hung-yi, Frank Hsieh, Li Ao, Taiwan, Talking Show, Yang Ching-hai, 台灣, 大話新聞, 李敖, 楊清海, 謝長廷, 鄭弘儀, 陳水扁