Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

The victory in the Lafayette arbitration court case is of major significance to Taiwan. The huge sums involved in the Lafayette frigate deal led to the death of Navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓), a major navy personnel reshuffle, several years of domestic political conflict, several political scandals in France and several international court cases in Taiwan, France and Switzerland.

However, the victory does not imply that all the fraud has been cleared up. The fraud case and the arbitration case are two different matters. Proving that commissions actually were paid in connection with the Lafayette case is just the beginning of a new wave of investigations. The government must now increase efforts to clarify the channels through which the commissions were forwarded and determine which officials were involved.

In a previous post you saw how Chen Shui-bian has been in jail for nearly two years on corruption charges concerning US$21 million from his eight years of presidency. The courts have yet not stated and/or proved just how much of that money is illegal and how much is rightfully his, according to the loose and vague laws concerning campaign donations. They are operating on the presumption that some amount of it (though they have not yet specifically proven it) is illegal and therefore they are justifying keeping him in jail. In the meantime, the prosecutors are also badgering, harassing, and interfering with the lives of many associated with Chen to try and get some one of them to create evidence for their case. Contrast that with the following that was just in the news about the infamous Chung Hsing Bills affair that broke just before the 2000 presidential elections.