Trying days

Taiwan has been obsessing about it for a while, but the Japan Times ジャパンタイムズ editorial staff has only now gotten around to commenting on the arrest of Chen Shui-bian  陳水扁. You mean there were other news stories happening around the world all this time? Hard to imagine, isn't it? In "An ex-president heads for trial", the paper explains:

"Taiwan's former president, Mr. Chen Shui-bian, was indicted on corruption charges last week. This is a shocking development in the career of a man who campaigned on a pledge to clean up Taiwan's politics. In the supercharged atmosphere of Taiwan politics, all sides will be tempted to intervene in or influence the legal process. That cannot occur. This trial must be transparent and free from any taint of politics. Taiwan's future may depend on it."

If the future of this island is riding on this case, then what lies ahead for Taiwan are some very dark days. From the moment Chen was arrested, and through his lengthy, pre-indictment detainment (can people really be held that long without charge here?), this affair has been mired in Taiwan's political muck. It's hard to see Chen's upcoming trial suddenly rising above all that.

I get the impression the JT's writers already know what will transpire in the end, for the editorial's conclusion sounds like a desperate plea:

"The case has inflamed Taiwan's already caustic politics. Mr. Chen's supporters have taken to the streets to proclaim his innocence. After his election, Mr. Ma (Ying-jeou) 馬英九 said he wanted to reach out to the 42 percent of Taiwanese who did not vote for him. That will be impossible if Mr. Chen's trial is seen as a political tool. The judiciary must not become a device for political retribution or revenge, or Taiwan's democracy could be undermined. Much rides on the trial of Mr. Chen: It must be flawless."

Ma's idea of reaching out to those who voted against him appears to be to prosecute only opposition party politicians for alleged corruption, and by politicizing the judiciary (threats of impeachment have been made against the judge who had the temerity to actually let Chen out on bail before his trial, as if members of Taiwan's independence movement were actually entitled to civil liberties). Chen, along with members of his family, will no doubt be found guilty, and he will receive the maximum punishment. Those eight years from 2000 to 2008 when the KMT 中國國民黨 was inexplicably out of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei (T'aipei) 台北 is a mistake that cannot be allowed to happen again.