Scandal-mongering blighting the nation's political scene

Rich Chang says Taiwan media's single-minded focus on unfounded political scandals can only be stopped in court

Taipei Times
Monday, April 17, 2006
 
By Rich Chang

The current phenomenon in which scandalous allegations are made against government officials and politicians, usually in the absence of any solid evidence, is altering the country's political and justice systems.

As a result, the previously conservative prosecutorial system is becoming far bolder in dealing with politically sensitive cases.

This fact was underlined when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi successfully brought former deputy secretary-general to the Presidential Office Chen Che-nan to book by revealing Chen's involvement in scandals surrounding the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC).

Chen Che-nan's repeated evasions, his gambling trip to South Korea and and other occasions when he had travelled without requesting leave eventually caught up with him when a photo of him and former KRTC vice chairman Chen Min-hsien in a casino in South Korea's Cheju Island in 2002 was displayed on a TVBS talk show.

Chen had previously said that he had never been to Incheon.

The one-time political giant was summoned by Kaohsiung prosecutors the next day and later indicted on charges of corruption.

"It has never happened before, that legislators or members of the media pressured prosecutors into pursuing a criminal investigation the way that they did in the current KRTC probe," Lin Ching-tsung, a prosecutor at the Taiwan High Court Prosecutors' Office told the Taipei Times.

But that was not the end of Chen's problems. Last month Liang Po-hsun, a businessman who fled to China after being found guilty of embezzling funds from the Overseas Chinese Bank more than two years ago, announced that he would return to Taiwan and Liang accused Chen of pocketing NT$12 million (US$370,000) which he was supposed to have used to bribe the judges in lawsuits affecting Liang -- but which he reportedly embezzled instead.

Liang and KMT Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao, who helped the fugitive make his "revelations," have since hogged the headlines.

Liang kept his word and returned to Taiwan early this month and was immediately taken into custody.

As a result of the statements Liang made, Chen was swiftly summoned for questioning and later detained.

"Liang revealed what he knew of Chen's crimes and even offered evidence to corroborate his story to Taipei prosecutors two years ago before he fled to China. Why didn't prosecutors summon Chen for questioning at that time?" KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao asked justice officials at the legislature early this month.

"The reluctant prosecutors only speeded up their investigation after the matter made headlines and became a topic of TV talk shows," Lai said.

However, at least one political commentator does not believe that public allegations will help to reform the judicial system.

"I do not think these revelations will help the nation combat corruption. Instead, they will create more political chaos, because the truth will never be found when party bias is behind the allegations," said Hsu Yung-ming, a research fellow in the Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at Academia Sinica.

"Because of the impending implementation of a new electoral system which will relegate half of the current number of legislators to the unemployment line after the next legislative elections, legislators are desperate to gain public attention. Exposing scandals is one of most effective ways of doing this," Hsu said.

Hsu also said that lawmakers could gain support from hardliners in their own parties by damaging their rivals in opposition parties.

Lee, who also recently levelled allegations against President Chen Shui-bian and first lady Wu Shu-jen by saying that the first family received and cashed department store gift vouchers, is preparing to run in the year-end Kaohsiung mayoral election.

And so is former independent legislator Su Ying-kuei, who recently made allegations in connection with the March 19, 2004, assassination attempt on the president and Vice President Annette Lu.

It is obvious that both politicians stand to gain from ensuring that their names are in the headlines.

The most effective way to put an end to this madness is for the courts to act swiftly and decisively against those who make allegations without providing concrete evidence.

Since the Criminal Code makes provision for libelers to be punished, and the Civil Code makes provision for fines to be leveled, the courts should move to end the scandal-mongering.

Place those who level allegations without proof behind bars, suspend them from running in elections and impose hefty fines and the phenomenon should disappear.

However, it is unreasonable to expect the nation's media, which were censored for several decades and only now enjoy real freedom, to discipline themselves.

Date Posted: 4/17/2006