It's been a week now since we got back from the USA, and virtually nothing of interest has happened in that span. I'm over the jet lag and back to work, the weather is already beginning to warm up and our visit back home is starting to blur into a distant, though pleasant, memory. One of the many nice things about being out of Taiwan for two weeks was getting away from the myopic local news reporting. Now that I'm back there's no escape from the ongoing media obsession with all things Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁. Other events going on in the world - the stimulus package proposed by President Obama (I love the way that looks and sounds!), the deadly bushfires in Australia, the Israeli general election - all get little or no attention paid to them, while Chen and his extended family are reported on virtually 24/7. Once in a while, the international media takes notice, as the BBC did the other day when it reported on the guilty plea entered by the ex-president's wife ("Taiwan's ex-first lady in court"):
"A former Taiwanese first lady has pleaded guilty to money-laundering and forgery but denied embezzlement charges in a high-profile corruption case. Wu Shu-chen said she had accepted a $2.2m (￥200 million) political donation in connection with a land purchase deal - not a bribe as alleged by prosecutors. She admitted charges of forging documents in a separate case but denied using the money for personal gain...Mr Chen, her husband, is currently in jail awaiting trial on the same charges. He has denied the accusations, saying they are politically motivated. Last month Chen Chih-chung, the Chens' son, pleaded guilty to money laundering as did several other family members."
Are the Chens guilty? I don't know all the details of the charges, but I wouldn't be surprised if many of them are true. Will they receive fair trials? Probably not. Even though the likelihood of convictions is very high, the KMT 中國國民黨 is so determined to crush the opposition that is has run roughshod over the principle of an impartial judicial process in order to increase the likelihood that Chen, and those closest to him, will spend many years behind bars. Have these cases tarnished the image of the opposition DPP 民主進步黨? Definitely. The party is finding it very difficult to shake off its association with Chen, and is thus being hamstrung in its efforts to create a viable alternative to the KMT, and the latter's increasing steps towards linking Taiwan with China. Does any of this come as a surprise? It shouldn't. While it can't be described as being as at Third World-levels, corruption is rife here, especially in political circles, and touches politicians of all political stripes.
Do I want to stick around to see what eventually happens? Um...Hello? AIT 美國在台協會? How do I go about applying for a green card for my Taiwanese wife?
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