Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Legislator Mark Chen calls Chen Shui-bian’s case a national tragedy

Michael Richardson

Legislator Mark Chen discusses Chen Shui-bian's trial

Taiwan Political Prisoner Report, Jan.11, 2013. Legislator Chen Tan-sun, or Mark Chen as he is known in the United States, arranged for the special visit with Chen Shui-bian in his hospital cell. Mark Chen, no relation to the imprisoned former president, agreed to be interviewed to discuss the prosecuton of Chen Shui-bian.

“I don’t believe President Chen had a fair trial," said Legislator Chen. "He is a victim of political persecution. Chen Shu-bian is not the only one being persecuted. A bunch of people have been indicted, some of them being incarcerated, and in the end they were innocent. This is why most people here in Taiwan don’t believe our judicial system has justice.”

KMT votes down media amendments

Taipei Times

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Wu Yu-sheng, front right, holds up a sign that says “against” while Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators hold up signs that say the KMT is cheating the people during a legislative session in which the DPP proposed amendments to media laws.
Photo: CNA

Amendments designed to prevent media monopolization and investors from interfering in the editorial content of broadcasting corporations were put on hold yesterday after the government made a last-minute U-turn late on Thursday night, with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers backtracking from their previously declared support for the amendments and voting them down.

At the plenary session yesterday, the third-last day before the legislature goes into recess on Tuesday, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union pressed for the amendments to clear the legislature.

Wu-Shu-chen reveals family secret about Chen plans to run against Ma in 2012

Michael Richardson

Taiwan Political Prisoner Report Jan. 10, 2013. The former First Lady, Wu Shu-chen, sat across the table from me and looked me straight in the eye: “We absolutely did not take any dirty money whatsoever. All we got were legal campaign contributions. It is a typical situation in Taiwan. Many Taiwanese are longing for a country of their own, they know the Republic of China is not their country, it is an exiled regime. They are looking to a particular person who demonstrates their interest and that person would get a lot of support.”

The Constitution: intangible asset

Taipei Times Editorial

The Constitution is a lot like air. We neither feel it nor see it, but it surrounds us at all times and it is involved in every aspect of our lives. That was why a recent plan by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) caucuses to propose establishing a Constitution Amendment Committee in the next legislative session was encouraging and appropriate.

Perhaps because Taiwan has been plagued by a sluggish economy for too long or perhaps because of the high threshold for approving amendments to the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution, the talk of amending it or writing a new constitution has been on hold since the TSU and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) briefly flirted with the idea years ago.

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