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Idiots on Feb. 12, 2004 ……

KMT idiots have no shame

When will the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) ever outgrow its need for the company of white-collar criminals?

After echoing the allegations made by former Tuntex boss Chen Yu-hao in his attempt to paint the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as corrupt, the KMT is now collaborating with bribe-givers in an attempt to tarnish the Presidential Office.

On Tuesday, KMT Legislator Lee Chuan-chiao accused the Presidential Office of taking NT$20 billion from Chang Min-chiang, chairman of the Pacific Group, and then failing to protect his ownership of the Sogo department store chain as promised.

Instead, Lee said, the Sogo chairmanship went to former Government Information Office chief Chung Ching. Quoting Chang's claims, Lee said Chang handed over NT$20 million to Pacific Distribution Investment Co chairman Lee Heng-lung, who then immediately arranged a lunch with someone from the Presidential Office. That person then promised to help Chang keep his chairmanship, according to the KMT legislator, but later reneged on the deal.

If he actually engaged in bribery, then Chang had this reversal of fortune coming. In fact, should he verify these claims, he is admitting to being a criminal who tried to bribe the head of state. Prosecutors should take action.

As for Lee Heng-lung's role, Lee Chuan-chiao and Chang should produce their evidence. The Presidential Office simply does not need to respond to such wild accusations.

Such remarks from pan-blue officials have long been established to be nothing more than rumormongering. Still, they seriously affect Taiwan's domestic political and economic stability. Again, prosecutors should take the initiative and investigate the matter.

For example, the pan-blue camp said earlier that Chen Yu-hao had issued three letters claiming that he had paid political donations to the Presidential Office via someone "surnamed Lee." Then, KMT Legislator Huang Teh-fu claimed that that someone is none other than Lee Chuan-hung, who according to Huang is vice chairman of the DPP's Formosa Foundation, a confidante of first lady Wu Shu-chen and a fugitive involved in the second-biggest insider trading case in US history.

The DPP immediately tried to refute the claims by showing records proving that Lee Chuan-hung had nothing to do with the Formosa Foundation. A number of media reports also pointed out that he is a major financial backer of People First Party Chairman James Soong. Unhappy about the result of the ramblings by KMT lawmakers, Soong quickly demanded that they hold their tongues.

Enough is enough with such foolish political antics and the party that is performing them.

But we should not underestimate the KMT. Its recent mud-slinging suggests that the party still believes that the people will believe its baseless rumors.

All of this reminds us of a joint public statement made by Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh, Cloud Gate dance group leader Lin Huai-min and Formosa Plastics chairman Wang Yung-ching. The statement, which condemned negative campaigning, was welcomed by pan-blue politicians and the pro-unification media as if Lee were merely criticizing the DPP.

KMT officials are not just idiots. They are idiots who have no shame.

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On Feb. 12, 2004 ……

Corruption eroding PRC's foundation

PARTY DISCIPLINE: The Chinese public is fed up with half-hearted efforts to stop graft in the government and private sector, which is sapping precious resources

AP, BEIJING

They've promised robust economic reform, a better future for the masses and honest, upright government. But the latest generation of Chinese leaders keep colliding with a problem that won't go away: Their people simply don't trust them.

In an era when even the Communist Party worries about polls, the party's own numbers depict a Chinese public unsatisfied with efforts to stop corruption in government and the growing private sector -- despite leaders' repeated promises to eradicate the problem.

Bribe-taking and embezzlement are widespread throughout China, as chronicled by the government's own media, especially in bidding for construction projects in coastal boomtowns and in other scams that piggyback on the nation's surging growth.

In recent weeks, a provincial vice governor was sentenced to death for bribery, a crime boss at the center of a corruption probe was executed, and Nanjing resorted to paying its police not to be corrupt -- with a 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) bonus upon retirement.

Even the president of a university founded by Mao Zedong to train communist revolutionaries was convicted last month of taking 610,000 yuan in gifts, mostly from construction companies bidding to build dormitories.

Corruption "erodes public confidence in the government and poisons its relationship with the people," the official newspaper China Daily said in an editorial a few weeks ago.

It said public confidence in anti-corruption efforts stood at just 51.9 percent last year. That's up from 32.8 percent in 1996, but still a stunning admission in a country where the party controls the media and enjoys absolute rule. The poll, which queried 12,000 people, cited no margin of error.

President Hu Jintao has portrayed himself as a man of the people and vowed last month to get tough on graft, announcing a new effort to beef up internal party discipline.

"For every case of corruption we find, we will investigate and deal with it," Hu said.

China's rapid shift from a planned economy to a more capitalist system means the rules were made up along the way, and what's illegal isn't always clear. The result: Some local leaders decide for themselves, then pocket the gains.

In the banking sector, China's state banks were accused for decades of propping up government-owned industries no matter how much money they lost. Today, those same banks must follow market rules and approve loans based on economic principles.

Wang Xuebing, the former general manager at the New York branch of Bank of China, was sentenced to 12 years for taking bribes worth 1.15 million yuan. He oversaw the branch between 1988 and 1993, when that office made improper loans that cost the bank US$34 million.

Financial crime is the most pernicious in get-rich-quick China. In the most notorious case, Lai Changxing is accused of smuggling billions of dollars in oil, cars and other goods.

The public's inability to challenge official China is a key hurdle to any corruption fight, said Joseph Cheng, a professor of political science at City University of Hong Kong. The news media and local legislatures must be allowed to speak out, he said.

Government media periodically herald high-profile crackdowns, such as the recent death sentence for a former vice governor in Anhui Province.

Such appearances of fighting corruption on a larger scale can help enhance the prestige of China's new leaders and ensure stability, says Ji Jinduo, a professor at the China Youth College for Political Science in Beijing.

"Anti-corruption efforts are not aimed at certain individuals but at the political system," Ji said.

Still, he added he's not optimistic about the future.

"China's present corruption situation isn't something to feel hopeful about," he said.

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On Feb. 12, 2004 ……

US lambasts PRC missile deployment

WEAPONRY BUILD-UP: US Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith's complaint appeared to fall on deaf ears in Beijing

AFP AND AP, BEIJING

The US yesterday rapped China for deploying missiles targeting Taiwan, saying it did nothing to reduce tensions with elections in Taiwan just weeks away.

"We expressed our concern about the missile build-up across from Taiwan and made the point that we have important shared interests and don't think those interests are being served by the missile build-up," said US Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith.

"That does not contribute to a reduction in tensions," he told a press roundtable after the sixth annual round of Sino-US defense consultations.

Feith was in Beijing for annual defense consultations. The two days of meetings with senior Chinese officials headed by General Xiong Guangkai, deputy chief of general staff of the People's Liberation Army, were dominated by the Taiwan issue.

Feith said the two sides "`discussed Taiwan at length" and Chinese officials brought up the planned referendum. But he said the Americans didn't discuss the vote because it wasn't a defense-related issue.

However, the US concerns about the missiles appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Asked if China had said whether they were prepared to withdraw any of the missiles, Feith said: "No."

He added, in response to questions on whether he had sensed any change in the Chinese attitude: "I don't think so."

Feith's visit comes after trips to China last month by Deputy US Secretary of State Richard Armitage and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers.

The purpose of Feith's meetings this week was to brief China on the realignment of the US' global military posture.

"We wanted to make sure the Chinese understood the key thoughts that are shaping our thinking on how we want to realign our forces globally," Feith said.

"And we wanted to give them a sense of the fact this is not only global but a very long-term view that we are taking," he said.

"Contrary to a lot of reports, it is not focused on any particular country and not on current events. It is a much bigger, longer term picture," he said.

Despite China's reluctance to withdraw its almost 500 missiles facing Taiwan, Feith said both sides agreed everything must be done to avoid war.

"On the broader issue on the talks we had here of Taiwan and the danger of war, both sides made it clear that we have a strong interest in keeping tensions down and avoiding war," Feith said.

"I don't think anyone should talk lightly about military action and that is an area where I think we have an important common interest. Nobody benefits from talk of war that will get everybody tense and increase danger," Feith said.

But asked whether this week's talks have given US officials a clearer picture of how China might respond if Taiwan's referendum goes ahead as planned on March 20, he said, "You have to ask the Chinese."

The Chinese government had no immediate comment on either the talks or Feith's remarks.

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On Feb. 12, 2004 ……

Congress divided over referendum

HOT POTATO: Neither side of the US body appears likely to initiate a resolution ahead of the March poll to counter President George W. Bush's condemnation

By Charles Snyder, STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON

Prospects that the US Congress will pass a resolution supporting President Chen Shui-bian's plan for a referendum have diminished markedly in recent weeks and observers say that no such resolution is possible before the March 20 presidential election.

Members of Congress who traditionally have supported Tai-wan unquestionably have engaged in a back-door debate over whether such a referendum should be considered and "the consensus at this time is not to do anything," one well-placed congressional source told the Taipei Times.

Taiwan's supporters in Washington have been seeking congressional support for a referendum that would counter President George W. Bush's comments on Dec. 9 during a news conference with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao opposing the referendum.

There is a feeling "that something has to be done" in response, a lobbyist for Taiwan said.

However, "many members have strong reservations. There's a lot of reluctance to move forward," a congressional source said. He noted that if a resolution on such a high-profile issues were introduced and failed to pass, it "just makes you look weak."

A recent statement by Representative Henry Hyde, the strongly pro-Taiwan chairman of the House International Relations Committee, that he would not let his committee pass any resolution dealing with sensitive political issues before March 20 election, may have killed chances for a strong resolution any time soon.

Hyde was said to be concerned about the impact on the election that any strong pre-poll congressional resolution might have. As a result, Taiwan's supporters are taking what they describe as a "wait an see attitude."

It's "a matter of timing," one said.

"I don't think there will be a resolution [introduced]," one congressional source said. "If there was one, it would have happened by now."

Taiwan's backers have been trying to interest Congress in a resolution that would embody a broad declaration of support for Taiwan and its democracy, and which would include a provision supporting Chen's referendum. They have been unable to find sufficiently powerful sponsors to introduce the legislation in either house of Congress.

Robert Sutter, a professor at Georgetown University, is also doubtful that Congress would enact any strong pro-Taiwan measure this year. He made his comments in an address to a Washington seminar on the March election that was sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and the US-Taiwan Business Council.

Afterwards, he told the Taipei Times that while a bland resolution might be introduced and passed, the lawmakers would not enact one with any teeth.

"The question is what it will say and how broad will be the support if it says anything controversial. If it looks like an attack on the administration's position, if it looks like it is supporting a Taiwan effort against the administration, then it will be much harder to get a lot of support," he said.

The resolution sought by Taiwan's supporters would endorse Chen's plan for a referendum on China's missile threat, demand Beijing renounce the use of force against Taiwan and recognize Taiwan's separate status from China, according to people familiar with efforts to frame a resolution.

It would be based on a bill approved nearly unanimously by the House of Representatives in July 1998 in response to then US president Bill Clinton's "three noes" declaration during a visit to Shanghai the previous month.

That measure recognized that at no time since the PRC was established has Taiwan been under its control.

The resolution affirmed the US commitment to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act, called for settlement of cross-strait relations by peaceful means, committed Washington to supplying Taipei with arms sufficient for its self defense, sought a renunciation of the use of force by Beijing and supported Taiwan's membership in international organizations.

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On Feb. 12, 2004 ……

China needs to be flexible: US academics

CNA, WASHINGTON

If Beijing wants to get better reactions from the people of Taiwan, it should initiate a more flexible policy toward Taiwan as well as abandon its "one China" principle as a premise for resuming cross-strait dialogue, a group of US academics said in Washington on Tuesday.

They also said that China should show goodwill by allowing Taiwan to enter the World Health Organization (WHO) and to jointly organize some events of the 2008 Olympic Games.

The academics made the comments while attending a seminar sponsored by the Heritage Foundation and the US-Taiwan Business Council.

Richard Bush, former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan and director of the Brookings Institution's Center for Northeast Asia, said that the threat from Beijing has strengthened Taiwan's identity consciousness as well as enlarging the distance between Taiwan and China.

He also said that Beijing's refusal to resume talks with Taiwan when President Chen Shui-bian took office in 2000 has caused it to miss a chance to improve cross-strait relations, as well as to reduce the differences between the two sides.

Bush said that it would change the feelings of the people of Taiwan if Beijing would see Taipei's bid for WHO observer status is not an issue of sovereignty and if it would stop preventing Taiwan from joining the organization.

He said other things that Beijing can do include reviewing its "one country, two systems" policy, reducing its threat to Taiwan's security as well as refraining from interfering in the island's internal affairs.

Bonnie Glaser, a research fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that whoever wins the March election, Beijing should understand that its current policies -- such as the "one country, two systems" model - -- are not practical and will not be accepted by the people of Taiwan.

She suggested that China should also allow Taiwan to host some events of the 2008 Olympics, saying that this would not only strengthen cross-strait cultural exchanges but would also promote interaction between Taipei and Beijing.

Saying that the most important thing is to resume cross-strait dialogue, Glaser said that Beijing should not use its "one China" principle as a prerequisite for holding cross-strait dialogue, because it will difficult for whoever wins the election to accept such a precondition.

Robert Sutter, a Georgetown University professor, said that he is not optimistic about the possible changes of Beijing's attitude toward Taiwan.

Saying that because of its own inertia, China's leadership will not change its Taiwan policy, Sutter said that Beijing's leaders are not expected to adopt a more flexible policy toward Taiwan at present.

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On Feb. 12, 2004 ……

China employs new wrecking tactics

According to the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the National Police Administration and media reports, Chang Yang, who is in charge of organizing campaign activities in northern China for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong is a fugitive who has been sentenced for committing fraud, forgery and breaking banking laws in Taiwan.

Even more interesting, a former minister of justice, who now also serves the Lien-Soong alliance, was seen hand-in-hand with a fugitive on a campaign occasion. He has even been networking in public among China-based Taiwanese business associations and established campaign offices for pan-blue candidates, carrying out with remarkable impunity activities to which China's communist system is particularly sensitive. We are not only deeply impressed with Beijing's leniency toward these activities, but also worried that the neck-and-neck presidential campaign may drive some people to take extreme measures that will lead to the recurrence of corruption and endanger Taiwan's independent, sovereign status.

Although this will be Taiwan's third direct presidential election, the Chinese government still attempts to influence the election result. Based on the painful lessons learned in 2000, China is not displaying forceful and barbaric behavior this time by launching military threats. Rather, it has resorted to soft propaganda to assist its preferred candidates in seizing power.

However, China did not expect President Chen Shui-bian to propose a referendum last September to let the Taiwanese people determine the future status of Taiwan. China thus employed strongarm diplomacy to force the US, Japan, France and other countries to pressure Taiwan into refraining from holding the referendum.

From a diplomacy perspective, Chinese leaders have, during their overseas visits to other countries, seized on the opportunity to threaten and lure leaders of the world's leading nations into publicly opposing Taiwan's referendum, making this the criterion for determining the success of a foreign visit. During Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the US and Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to France, Beijing swapped significant economic benefits in return for these leading powers stating their opposition against Taiwan's referendum. In fact, not only will US, Japanese and French opposition fail to stop the Taiwanese people from holding a historic referendum, but it has led to criticism against these countries' double standards and their submission to communist China. However, the pan-blue camp has slandered, distorted and opposed the referendum -- echoing Beijing -- in an effort to stop the referendum, no matter what. Both the pan-blues and Beijing believe that only by stopping the referendum can they stop President Chen Shui-bian from being re-elected.

From the perspective of cross-strait relations, everyone knows that China intentionally has blocked any progress in cross-strait relations by setting various premises or conditions in order to prevent Chen from scoring on the cross-strait issue, while still putting the blame on him.

In the past two months, Beijing has arrested Taiwanese businesspeople and lured the media to label them "Taiwanese spies." The media even laid the blame on Chen for his disclosure about the 496 missiles China has targeted at Taiwan. The attempt to sway Taiwan's presidential election is obvious, but the strategies and methods employed are brand new.

Take, for example, the Taiwanese intelligence agent surnamed Lee who was recently arrested in China. In the past, these spy cases were first revealed by Hong Kong media, and later followed by official Chinese verification and vigorous propaganda. But this time, the scoop was first reported by a certain pro-unification media outlet in Taiwan, which ran Lee's photo pasted on his "Taiwan compatriot travel document", before the Chinese government verified the arrest.

This has highlighted an expansion of China's strategies and manipulation of information and psychological warfare aimed at Taiwan. Its targeting has extended to sites inside Taiwan, causing a domestic crisis of division and conflict.

Faced by this phenomenon and crisis, the pan-blue and pan-green camps must not view China's psychological warfare as advantageous to their campaign, and sit idly by or use the "red force" to help them win the election.

Take Chen Yu-hao, for example. Amid stiff electoral competition between the pan-blue and pan-green camps, the fugitive Chen has been hiding in China, making insinuations by fax instead of seeking justice for himself through judicial channels. He has accused the Presidential Office of being a "black gold hub" in an attempt to wash away his disrepute as a man who took his money to China and left his debts in Taiwan.

Add to this the deliberate hype by the pro-unification media and we get a pathological phenomenon in which a "financial robber" and fugitive becomes a media hero because he has made accusations against the Presidential Office.

Another fugitive changed his name to Chang Yang and became a Taiwanese business leader in Shenyang as well as an important cadre in the pan-blue camp's election campaign in China. This raises doubts about the pan-blue camp's determination to break away from "black gold." In the light of later developments, Chen's motive for stepping forward and making accusations against the government is very clear. He was prompted, not by a concern for clean, democratic politics, but by his personal political and business interests and grievances over his arrest warrant.

We would therefore like to call on the pan-blue camp not to manipulate the election by making accusations against the Presidential Office through a fugitive. Instead, they should stop having anything to do with financial criminals who left their debts in Taiwan.

They should also pay attention to the bad loan problems caused by financial criminals, the steep rise in unemployment caused by the westward migration of Taiwanese industries and the serious impact that Taiwan's rising economic dependency on China will have on Taiwan's economic development.

Only then can they be responsible political parties and responsible presidential and vice presidential candidates. Furthermore, government and opposition should not let economic criminals run free in China, attacking government and national leaders based on electoral concerns.

Nor should they try to win these criminals over by extending hopes that if they help win the election, their crimes will be pardoned and they will be allowed to return to Taiwan following a transition of power, thus ignoring the interests of the public and Taiwan' security.

In addition, interference by big gamblers in election betting to promote rumors regarding a certain political camp is becoming more intense as election day draws nearer. According to investigators, because the outcome is difficult to predict, political forces may be interfering using large amounts of gambling money to influence the election mood and create an impression that support for one of the parties is higher, thereby increasing that party's number of votes. Rumors from the underground gambling world are spreading everywhere.

The public will be easily confused by specious rumors, making it even easier for those trying to influence the election mood to succeed. Neither the blue nor the green camp should therefore use gambling to improve their own image and thus influence the election. In order to protect the legitimacy and fairness of the election, we call for investigators to investigate all election gambling, in particular whether there are any attempts at using gambling, which is illegal, to influence the election.

As the day of the presidential election draws nearer, the pan-blue and pan-green camps will unavoidably enter into close combat, and they will strengthen their defense and improve their attacks on various election issues and strategies. Nor will China want to sit idly by, but they will want to interfere to influence the outcome of the election. We sincerely hope that government and opposition will not seriously influence the survival and security of Taiwan just to win one single election, by either neglecting or taking advantage of the integration of the force of black gold and money from China.

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On Feb. 12, 2004 ……

A referendum question

Michael Wise, Tamshui

I've read all of your editorials on the upcoming referendum and the various scenarios should President Chen Shui-bian win re-election, and your views on China's reaction to it.

I have also noted the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party (PFP) alliance's strong resistance to the referendum, calling it illegal, among other things.

You say, quite rightly, that "if a majority of voters support the framework, both sides will have to shoulder the responsibility of international expectation for cross-strait peace," (Editorial, Feb. 07, page 8) but there is an obvious problem to this statement that you have not yet clarified.

This prompts the question, should the pan-blue camp win the election, what is to stop them from claiming that the referendum was illegal and as such they do not have to comply with the people's wishes?

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On Feb. 12, 2004 ……

State of self-deception

Lin Shao-huei, Arizona

It's understandable that Arthur Shih believes Taiwan is not in a state of emergency because he lives in New Zealand and need not worry about the consequences of any of the 500 or so ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan misfiring and landing on his doorstep (Letters, Feb. 5, page 8).

He suggests that the government should "silence all critics and send [the referendum] to the committee and have it certified" if the administration is so sure of its legality.

It seems to me that Shih either prefers a dictatorship or does not understand what democracy is.

Perhaps it's a timing issue? Would you consider Taiwan in a state of emergency the moment the Chinese military moves toward the launching pad, during countdown, at zero or when the missiles are in the air, Mr. Shih?

I'm all ears.

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On Feb. 12, 2004 ……

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