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Home Editorials of Interest Jerome F. Keating's writings Taiwan's Poltical Soap Opera Update: The Diane Lee Effect and Justice Served?

Taiwan's Poltical Soap Opera Update: The Diane Lee Effect and Justice Served?

Monday, 15 March 2010 09:10 Jerome F. Keating Ph.D. Editorials of Interest - Jerome F. Keating's writings

Taiwan's political soap opera under Ma Ying-joke continues, and a new factor in the political scene is what can be called the "Diane Lee Effect." Suffering from it is Kaohsiung's People First Party (PFP) City Councilor Yang Se-yu. Diane Lee, for those who may not recognize the name, is the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator who for 14 years had illegally collected over US$3 million dollars in salary in violation of the Nationality Act. The KMT Lee had held dual passports for both Taiwan and the United States. The national loyalty of any government official with dual passports is immediately suspect; with that is the possibility that they can easily do things harmful to the national interests of the country. In this, they possess the relative immunity of having the means for an immediate escape if the harm of their actions is revealed.

PFP Yang Se-yu almost equaled KMT Diane Lee in illegal salary and special fees; she earned (US$2.7 million) as a councilor with the alleged dual citizenship with the country of Canada. After Lee was convicted, Yang quickly traveled overseas allegedly for health reasons and to take classes--a strange combination. In her haste to get overseas, Yang of course failed to resign her position, another questionable act. Now she has asked family members to help her in that effort. With good healthcare and educational services available in Taiwan, one naturally wonders how a councilor with 15 years experience would leave so quickly and for such an indefinite time that she would forget to resign. We can only wonder who will be next to either try to erase his/her dual citizenship and/or escape.

One who did not escape, as least permanently, is the KMT former Changhua County council speaker Pai Hung-shen convicted of corruption. Much to the embarrassment of the KMT Minister of Justice (MOJ) Wang Ching-feng (who also recently resigned but for different reasons) and the local police, the KMT Pai, once convicted last June was allowed to enter the hospital for heart surgery. It boggles the mind how a person recovering from heart surgery could easily elude his police guard. One pictures him conveniently sprinting away while the police or whomever the KMT MOJ had watching him were left in the dust. Fortunately or ironically, the police in China are a little better at their jobs and they caught Pai going for a massage. Ah, the thrill of the chase. Pai has been returned; will the KMT watched jail be able to hold one of their own, convicted of corruption? Stay tuned.


Source: Jerome F. Keating's writings


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Newsflash

Russia is selling military equipment and technology to China that could help Beijing prepare an airborne invasion of Taiwan, according to an analysis of leaked Russian documents by a UK-based defense and security forum.

The Royal United Services Institute’s (RUSI) analysis is based on about 800 pages of documents, including contracts and lists of equipment to be supplied by Moscow to Beijing, from the Black Moon hacktivist group, which previously published some of the documents online. It does not identify its members, but describes itself in a manifesto as opposed to governments that carry out aggressive foreign policy.

The authors of the RUSI report shared some of the documents with The Associated Press and say they appear to be genuine, although parts of the documents might have been omitted or altered. AP is unable to independently verify their authenticity.