A ruling by the Taiwan High Court last week, in which former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was found not guilty of misusing his special state affairs fund, inadvertently revealed secret diplomatic efforts by Taipei as it explained in detail how Chen spent state affairs funds to promote relations with other countries.

PRIME MINISTERS

The ruling said that Taipei in the 1990s lobbied former Japanese prime ministers Ryutaro Hashimoto and Junichiro Koizumi to support Taiwan’s efforts to attend the WTO Ministerial Conference on Agriculture — efforts that succeeded in the long run.