Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan Political Prisoner Report, Jan. 17, 2013. Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim says that while the prosecution of former Republic of China in-exile President Chen Shui-bian is the most significant case against the Democratic Progressive Party by Ma Ying-jeou, it is only one of many political prosecutions against the opposition party in Taiwan.

“You have to put President Chen’s case in a context,” said Hsiao. “Many members of our party, senior government officials who had been incarcerated or detained prior to trial have been acquitted. Two county magistrates and also his former chief of staff, who had been detained prior to trial for nearly two months. They shaved his hair, humiliated him. And he was recently found not guilty, acquitted so he is suing the government for wrongful detention.”

In an article titled First Year of the China Factor published on Christmas day in a Chinese-language publication, Academia Sinica research fellow Wu Jieh-min (吳介民) said that China has been using a “cross-strait political-commercial alliance” comprised of financial groups and pro-China organizations to interfere in Taiwan’s elections, and in doing so, influencing policymaking, public discourse and political order. The article garnered quite a bit of attention, but there was also quite a lot of confusion in the subsequent debate, which descended into so much noise with the sheer plethora of different opinions being voiced. Unfortunately, this was a lost opportunity to reflect on this idea of the “China factor” and its repercussions.