How Many “Firsts” Has Ah-bian Achieved in the Last Eight Years?

How Many “Firsts” Has Ah-bian Achieved in the Last Eight Years?

Sources: United Daily News

May 19, 2008

“I am number one?”

President Chen Shui-bian will step down tomorrow. During his eight years, or 2,920 days, of his administration, Taiwan has been in political turmoil. In this turbulence, Chen Shui-bian has created a number of records in governance.

1. Bulletgate
Take a look at the President’s belly…
Former President Chen Shui-bian made history on March 19, 2004 after he became the first President in Taiwan to be shot in broad daylight. The shooting occurred on the day before the Presidential election in 2004 in a rather peculiar manner, with one bullet scraping through the surface of former President Chen’s belly and the other scraping former Vice President Annette Lu’s knee. While the police identified civilian Chen Yi-hsiung (who was later found drowned) as the shooter, many still believe the truth has yet to come out. President Ma Ying-jeou has pledged to resume the investigation into the shooting and uncover the truth.

2. Kiss NT$ One Billion Goodbye
Taiwan’s Greatest Diplomatic Scandal
The Taiwan-Papua New Guinea diplomatic scandal, which came to light in the last two weeks of the DPP rule, cost Vice Premier Chiou I-jen, Foreign Minister James Huang, and Deputy Defense Minister Ko Cheng-heng their jobs.

Taiwan’s diplomatic campaign led by former President Chen Shui-bian ended in a mysterious scandal in which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Security Council lost NT$ 1 billion to some equally mysterious brokers by the name of Ching Chi-ju and Wu Shih-tsai, who were supposed to help Taiwan establish diplomatic ties with Papua New Guinea. Taiwan became a laughingstock after the story found its way to international media. Was it a scam or a case of corruption? The prosecutors and the investigators are trying to find out. Meanwhile, the case has sparked another round of debate on the so-called “checkbook diplomacy.”

3. Depose the President: Legislature + Red Shirt Army
Three attempts to depose the President at the Legislature and the siege and protest marches of Red Shirt Army
Former President Chen Shui-bian surpassed his predecessors in quite a few ways. He made the greatest number of apologies, and no other President in the history of Taiwan had ever been the object of repeated recalls. The KMT legislative caucus made an attempt to recall him in 2000 over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant dispute. The attempt eventually failed because the people found it too early to judge him after only a few months in office, and also because Chen made a public apology in person.

However, the Red Shirt Army took to the streets and asked Chen to step down after the State Affairs Fund case broke out in 2006. The Legislature made another attempt to recall Chen in October, but failed to reach the threshold. Opposition parties KMT and PFP then failed in the third attempt in November, sparing Chen of the embarrassment of becoming the first President in Taiwan to be recalled.

Chen is also the only President besieged by the people. Following the State Affairs Fund case, former DPP Chairman Shih Ming-teh led a protest campaign in which a million people gathered at the Presidential Square asking Chen to step down. The group, dubbed the Red Shirt Army, persevered for several months. The climax of the campaign was when the Red Shirt Army besieged the Presidential Palace on September 15. Members of the Red Shirt Army then traveled to different parts of the country, and Chen could hardly go anywhere without seeing a group of protesters. The “national siege” on October 10 broke the record in terms of the number of participants in a campaign and made an unprecedented impact on the Chen administration.

4. No One Answered the Door at the Control Yuan
Tension between ruling and opposition parties drove the Legislature to veto former President Chen’s nomination of Control Yuan members. The Control Yuan was left with no members for several years as a result, which is a constitutional wonder for a five-branch government.

5. The President’s Racked Up Lots of Mileage
Former President Chen collected more mileage than his predecessors by frequently traveling to visit Taiwan’s foreign allies. He traveled 15 times to foreign countries in the past eight years, a record for the President of the R.O.C. Many of the trips were rather intensive, and often took more than ten days. Chen won himself the moniker “Iron Man” with his unparalleled mobility, and set the record of spending 37 hours straight on the plane from takeoff to landing. He visited (or stopped by, to be more accurate) more non-ally countries than his predecessors and was the key man behind the “transit diplomacy.” He later launched a new wave of “beacon-fire diplomacy” but failed to achieve a single real breakthrough. Taiwan ended up losing nine foreign allies in the past eight years and became viewed as a troublemaker by the US. Meanwhile, cross-Strait relations remained perfectly stagnant under the Chen administration.

6. First Family vs. Law and Justice
The First Lady, Chen’s Son-in-Law, and the Son-in-Law’s Father Indicted
Former President Chen broke many records with his State Affairs Fund. He and former First Lady Wu Shu-jen are the first Presidential couple to be indicted. Wu managed to present herself in a court hearing once, only to swoon off in a dramatic fashion in front of the judge and be carted off to the hospital. She then used her ill health as an excuse not to show up in court again. But her close aides were not blessed with the same privilege, and had to explain to judges if they had played any part in the State Affairs Fund case. Meanwhile, the people were left to shake their heads in disbelief after hearing that Chen and Wu might have used false receipts in the auditing and accounting process.

Before the State Affairs Fund case, Chen’s son-in-law Chao Chien-ming and his father Chao Yu-chu were indicted and convicted over the Taiwan Development Co. scandal. Chao Chien-ming even spent some time in detainment at the Taipei Detention House as a result. Never in the history of Taiwan have the people seen anything quite like this before. The State Affairs Fund and the Taiwan Development Co. scandals effectively ruined the first family’s already tarnished reputation.

7. President I-am-Sorry
No other President in the history of Taiwan spent so much time making apologies as Chen did. At the beginning of his first term, Chen met with Lien Chan, then KMT Chairman, at the Presidential Palace to seek advice on state affairs. But the minute after Lien’s departure, the Executive Yuan announced the decision to terminate construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant. The meeting turned out to be a scheme to humiliate the KMT and invited the wrath of the KMT and the people. Chen was forced to make formal apologies to Lien and the people on TV. This is the beginning of a string of apologies from Chen, who made even more apologies in his second term.

In late 2005, reports revealed that Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Chen Che-nan was seen gambling in a casino in South Korea’s Jeju Island. Exposure of the Kaohsiung MRT scandal soon followed. President Chen had to apologize not just once but five times. The DPP became the victim of Chen Che-nan’s scandal, suffering a humiliating defeat in the mayoral and county executive elections later that year. President Chen, who masterminded the DPP’s election campaign, bowed low on stage in apology.

Then in May 2006, Chen’s son-in-law Chao Chien-ming and his family found themselves charged with insider trading in the Taiwan Development Co. scandal. All respect for the first family vanished as angry people shook their heads in disgust. President Chen had to apologize once again, but it was not enough to appease the people this time, and the domino effect soon forced President Chen to give up a portion of his power to subordinates. With only two weeks left in his second term, President Chen said sorry to the people yet again for the Taiwan-Papua New Guinea diplomatic scandal. He truly deserves to be called President I-am-Sorry for making apologies from the beginning all the way to the end of his tenure.

8. Ever-Changing Premiers
Four “Princes of the DPP” and Political Appointees All Toys of the President
Former President Chen has lived a turbulent life in and out of the office. He appointed six Premiers in the past eight years, and all six were ridiculed for not being able to hold on to their job. The first Premier of Chen administration, Tang Fei of the KMT, was kicked out after only 137 days in office.

The second Premier Chang Chun-hsiung remained for a little more than a year. The third Premier Yu Shyi-kun had the longest term, being in the office for three years, but he stopped playing the obedient subordinate in the twilight of his term and was reported to have invited the wrath of his boss one too many times. The fourth Premier Frank Hsieh was kicked out after less than a year. The fifth Premier Su Tseng-chang walked away after he failed in his bid to become DPP’s Presidential candidate, and only managed to outstay Frank Hsieh by a few months in office. The sixth and last Premier, the old Chang Chun-hsiung again, held a caretaker status shortly after taking over. President Chen set an unparalleled record of appointing six Premiers in eight years and switching political appointees hundreds of times.

9. The Economy: Too Catastrophic to be Sugarcoated
During the past eight years under former President Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan experienced the first negative economic growth in history and a skyrocketing unemployment rate. Despite steady increases in per capita GDP, the annual income of the highest earners is six times greater than the lowest earners, and the wealth of the high-income group has multiplied over the years. While the DPP government was pushing for “welfare state policies,” Taiwan has turned into an M-shaped society, and the gap between the rich and poor has widened. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics may have presented sugarcoated economic statistics, but few people in Taiwan were fooled.

Taiwan experienced the first turnover of ruling parties in 2000 when Chen Shui-bian was elected President. The DPP government registered an economic growth rate of 5.77% in the first year of office. The dotcom bubble and the September 11 terrorist attack in 2001 led to the collapse of the global economy. Taiwan saw negative economic growth for the first time. However, of the Four Asian Tigers, only Singapore shared the same fate as Taiwan, with an economic growth of –2.44% in that year. Both Hong Kong and South Korea managed to beat the odds.

The DPP government suspended construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and changed the direction of policies regarding investment in Mainland China. As a result, investors fled as people lost faith in the future. It is hard to measure the scale of damage the Fourth Nuclear Plant saga did to the economy, but no one can deny that substantial damage was done.

For those wondering if the economy has been growing fast enough, a look at the South Korea economy is the easiest way to find out. Per capita GDP of South Korea surpassed that of Taiwan for the first time in 2005, and since then the gap has been growing even wider. South Korea’s per capita GDP is likely to hit the US$ 20,000 mark this year. While Taiwan has managed to keep its economic growth rate above 4% and achieve growth in per capita GDP in the past eight years, wage income has remained stagnant. Per capita GDP growth was really the result of the rich getting richer. Most people were unable to reap the harvest of economic growth.

Taiwan used to impress the world with its economic miracle. Prior to Taiwan’s first turnover of ruling parties, when Asia was mired in financial crisis in 1998, many countries in Asia, including Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, all registered negative economic growth. Taiwan was the only country in Asia with positive economic growth.

10. “Mysterious Issues” Former President Chen Shui-Bian Failed to Clear Up before Leaving Office
1) He stepped down, and the wound on the surface of his belly has healed, but the people are still in the dark as to the truth of the March 19 Shooting Incident.
2) According to the prosecution’s indictment, former First Lady Wu Shu-jen used her husband’s State Affairs Fund to purchase two diamond rings, while Wu steadfastly denied the charges. Exactly what is the truth?
3) Does Chen have in his pockets any other slips of paper documenting secret under-the-table cross-Strait interactions?
4) Regarding the Taiwan-Papua New Guinea diplomatic scandal, is it a case of fraud or money laundering? What is the truth behind the eerie silence?
5) When Chen first became President, he vowed to uncover the truth of the Lafayette scandal “even if it would threaten the very foundation of the country.” One wonders why he didn’t complete the task he set out to accomplish.
6) Chen allegedly used the invoices of third parties for the accounting and auditing of State Affairs Fund. He said the money was spent on the so-called “Southern Front Project,” but prosecutors dismissed the claim as an outright lie. So exactly where did the money go?
7) In the wake of the Presidential election in 2004, angry Blue camp supporters gathered at the Presidential Square to chastise Chen for using the March 19 Shooting Incident to affect the election. Chen said that according to intelligence data, the armed forces attempted an unsuccessful “velvet coup d'état” following the 2004 Presidential election. Exactly what did he mean by “velvet coup d'état”?


Distorting the Truth: the DPP’s Way of Education

The DPP government is famous for the “Three Stooges,” i.e., former Minister of Education Tu Cheng-sheng, former Ministry of Education Secretary-General Chuang Kuo-rong, and former Government Information Office Director Shieh Jhy-wey. The Ministry of Education alone accounted for two of the “Three Stooges,” Tu and Chuang, with their “merits and contributions,” became the nails in the coffin of the DPP government. Together they sent the DPP officials “running in tears to their mothers.”

During his eight-year term, former President Chen Shui-bian switched Premiers so many times that most people had a hard time keeping track of them. However, few had trouble recalling the flamboyant, well-known Education Minister. Even the newspaper in metro stations in Sweden jokingly reported the departure of “Minister Doze” in an article on Taiwan’s second turnover of ruling parties on May 20.

Chen appointed a total of three Education Ministers during the past eight years. Tu enjoyed the longest (four-year) term for being politically correct. During the four years, he made quite a few “miraculous achievements,” making himself something of a spectacle in the history of Taiwan’s education.

The Ministry of Education in the DPP era broke more than a few glasses with its “professional performance.” Its online Mandarin dictionary wrongly defines the act of men paying for prostitutes as “buying booze,” and sexual intercourse as “putting on firecrackers.” “The Three Piglets,” the title of a well-known children’s story, and “The Truman Show,” a movie title, are classified as “idioms” by the dictionary. Young students, inspired by Tu, created a whole new range of cyberspace vocabulary, calling people who try to distort the truth “Tu Cheng-sheng.” It was a “miracle” in idiom education.

Tu invited the wrath of many when he accused idioms of “making people too lazy to think” and erased a large portion of classical Chinese from textbooks. His actions forced scholars and civilian groups to launch a campaign to save the Mandarin language. Tu really outdid many of his predecessors.

Tu also created a culture of distorting the truth and making far-fetched excuses among fellow political appointees. He was once caught dozing off by the media, but insisted that he was merely “keeping his eyes shut for a while.” Later he was caught taking booger out of his nose and casting it away during a legislative session. This time Shieh Jhy-wey came to his rescue, explaining that it was Tu’s way of “thumbing his nose.”

To the DPP government, it is more important for the Education Minister to be politically correct than to possess real expertise in education. The DPP government even introduced unrealistic, empty policies such as twelve-year compulsory education to consolidate voter support. Unfortunately for the people, the DPP government broke the national record of changing policies four times in one single week. Tentative, controversial policy packages of rearranging school districts, eliminating star high schools, and making the basic scholastic aptitude examination for junior high school students a lesser part of admission requirements were soon retracted by Tu following fierce criticism from the people as well as confused, disoriented students and teachers. Tu announced that the policy packages “would be sidelined for now to be decided in a year later.” It was a “miraculous achievement” on Tu’s part to make four changes within a week on issues so important as education.

To fulfill his political missions, Tu devoted much of his energy to what he believed to be truly important tasks such as “anti-Chiang Kai-shek,” “de-Sinicization,” and “rectifying the country’s title.” Tu also masterminded the revision of high school history textbooks, in which “national history” is renamed “Mainland Chinese history,” Dr. Sun Yat-sen is no longer revered as the founding father of the Republic of China, and Chinese people moving to Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty are depicted as “colonizing Taiwan.” Tu then did what he described as “fine-tuning” the Grade 1-9 Curriculum, renaming national language “Chinese language” and calling Chinese written language “Han Chinese characters.” Tu placed enormous focus on the so-called “native language education.” Primary school pupils in Taiwan are required to develop the skill of writing e-mail messages in Minnan dialect, and secondary school students are asked to learn to open a web blog in Minnan dialect.

The Ministry of Education in the DPP era took great pride in leading the movement to “rectify the name of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial.” Ministry of Education Secretary-General Chuang Kuo-rong single-handedly led the “holy war” against Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin and KMT Presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou. Even former President Chen Shui-bian took his hat off to Chuang, holding the latter up as “a role model for all public functionaries.”

Little did the DPP government know that the “rectifying the country’s title” movement did a lot more than remove the name plaque; it was the last straw leading to the eventual downfall of the DPP government.

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