2009 全球知名 經濟學雜誌 報導
全球知名 經濟學雜誌 報導
台灣屬美軍政治理中報導中國國民黨秘書長控告陳前總統節及民政府領袖林先生高院一案
http://www.economist.com/node/14710808
Taiwan's jailed former president
Looking for a loophole
Did Taiwan leave its heart in San Francisco?
Oct 22nd 2009 | Taipei | From the print edition
Taiwan is still looking at the small printCorbis
BANGED up for life for corruption, a sentence against which he is appealing, Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan's president in 2000-08, faces a new investigation. This time he is up for treason, a crime that can carry the death penalty. The bizarre charge springs from his own bizarre claim: that, during his tenure, he was an American agent.
The thinking derives from a tiny band of fringe independence activists, now calling itself the Formosa Nation Legal Strategy Association. It argues that the San Francisco peace treaty, signed in 1951 to end the second world war, did not award sovereignty over Taiwan to either Communist China or the Republic of China, over which the remnants of China's Nationalist party, the Kuomintang (KMT), still claimed to rule. The association insists the treaty overrides all subsequent agreements, and Taiwan is still the territory of Japan's conqueror, the United States, its status comparable to that of Puerto Rico. Demanding American passport rights, the association's precursor in 2006 sued America for failing to be a military occupier. After a Washington district court threw the case out, it went to the court of appeals, which in April ruled in favour of the American government. The association then set its sights on America's Supreme Court.
Mr Chen weighed in to back the association, claiming that, as president, he took orders from the Americans. After his sentencing in September he sued for his freedom in the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, proclaiming his innocence and arguing that America should intervene, as Taiwan was technically under its occupation.
Mr Chen said he did this to clarify that Taiwan was separate from China. But local analysts said he desperately hoped to get out of jail. The former president announced that circumstances had forced him to reveal “the existence of the United States Military Government for Taiwan”. But the American appeals court declined the case in early October. The Supreme Court has also refused to consider the association's case.
The ruling KMT has made hay over Mr Chen's outlandish claims, calling him “the bastard son of Uncle Sam”. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which Mr Chen used to lead, is embarrassed. It adamantly does not want Taiwan ruled by either China or America. But it is hard for it to turn on Mr Chen without alienating its own hardliners.
Even without his “treason”, the outlook for Mr Chen looks grim. A court interpretation this month rejected the claim that a controversial switch of judges in his corruption case in December was unconstitutional. Last month Mr Chen received another indictment, over the alleged pocketing of money meant for foreign affairs. So far he is faring no better in America's courts. But Jonathan Levy, his lawyer, says he is allowed to try again. Many think he will.
