Chen Shui-bian

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Chen Shui-bian

Chen Shui-bian ( Chinese 陳水扁 / 陈水扁, Pinyin Chén Shuǐbiǎn , Pe̍h-ōe-jī Tân Chúi-píⁿ ; born October 12, 1950 in Guantian , Tainan County , Taiwan ) is a Taiwanese politician and was from May 20, 2000 to May 20, 2008 President and thus head of state of the Republic of China in Taiwan . He was a member of the Democratic Progressive Party(DPP), which he chaired between July 2002 and December 2004 and October 2007 and January 2008. On August 15, 2008, he resigned from the party to forestall an expulsion.

Chen was the first president not to belong to the Kuomintang (KMT), which had dominated for decades . Like his predecessor Lee Teng-hui (KMT), he is not from mainland China , but was born in Taiwan.

Chen Shui-bian is a proponent of Taiwan independence. In a difficult relationship with the People's Republic of China , he pursued the policy of five no 's that he had proclaimed . He also campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty and for the establishment of a world environmental organization under the UN .

biography

Chen comes from a poor background in southern Taiwan. He studied law at the National University of Taiwan and graduated in 1974 as the best in his class. He then worked as a maritime law attorney. In 1980 he began defending dissidents opposed to the KMT and became a dedicated advocate for democracy and human rights . In 1986 he was arrested because of his beliefs. He joined the DPP in the same year. In 1989 he was elected as the youngest member of parliament. 1994 to 1998 he was mayor of the capital Taipei . On March 18, 2000, he was elected president for the first time in the presidential election with 39.3% of the vote. In the election of the legislative Yuan in the following year , however, the “ pan-blue parties ” won the majority, which largely obstructed Chen's legislative proposals and policies during the following legislative period.

On March 19, 2004 - the day before the next presidential election - he was assassinated during an election rally. Chen, who won the election with a very narrow majority of 50.11% versus 49.89%, was injured in the abdomen in the attack. Vice President Lu Hsiu-lien , who was also the victim of the attack, sustained a knee injury. After the elections, the opposition accused him of orchestrating the attack in order to win an election. On March 23, 2004, he accepted the demand for a recount of votes, which confirmed his narrow election victory. The KMT-related parties (the “ pan-blue coalition ”) continued to accuse him of violent electoral fraud . In the election of the Legislative Yuan in December 2004 , the Kuomintang and its allies were again successful, so that during Chen's second term in office, which lasted until 2008, almost all of his government's policy in parliament was blocked by the opposition.

Scandals

Protest rally in Taipei in September 2006.

In late May and early June 2006, Chen experienced the greatest shock of his tenure. His son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming , a well-known doctor, was arrested for involvement in multimillion-dollar insider trading . This serious crisis began at the beginning of the year when a former close associate of Chen was arrested on suspicion of corruption. After that, his wife came under fire because she was able to benefit on a large scale from free vouchers from a department store chain.

Even close supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party, including Shih Ming-teh , a key figure in Taiwan's democracy movement, fell away from Chen and called for his resignation. In order to forestall impeachment proceedings , which have since been initiated with votes from the ruling party, Chen announced on June 2, 2006 that he was giving up his "exercise of power" (棄權, qìquán ) and - bypassing Vice President Lu Hsiu-lien - this delegate to the Prime Minister.

In September 2006, several 100,000 people protested in Taipei under the motto “ One million votes against corruption, President Chen must go ” (百萬 人民 倒 扁 運動). The campaign, led by Shih Ming-teh , garnered more than a million signatures calling for Chen's resignation. When asked about the campaign, Shih Ming-teh confirmed in an interview with the New York Times in September that most of his supporters come from the " pan-blue coalition " (Kuomintang etc.).

Chen's falling popularity eventually led to landslide losses for his party and the victory of the opposition Kuomintang in the legislative yuan election on January 12, 2008 . Chen assumed political responsibility and resigned from his post as chairman of the DPP in October 2007. The presidential election on March 22, 2008 ended with a clear victory for Kuomintang candidate Ma Ying-jeou , who succeeded Chen as president on May 20, 2008.

Detention and Trial

On November 11th, 2008, Chen was arrested on suspicion of corruption , money laundering, and misappropriation of state funds. On September 11, 2009, he and his wife Wu Shu-chen were sentenced to life imprisonment by a court of first instance in Taipei for corruption and embezzlement of campaign donations in the tens of millions, with Ms. Wu Shu-chen, who relied on a wheelchair and constant help is instructed to serve the sentence as house arrest. In addition, Chen was fined 200 million Taiwan dollars and his wife was fined 300 million Taiwan dollars. The judgments could still be appealed to a higher instance. In a second instance, on June 8, 2010, Chen was acquitted of allegations of misappropriating state funds. The verdict on the other two charges of money laundering and corruption was published on June 11 and his sentence was reduced to 20 years in prison. After a renewed appeal at the highest instance, Chen was acquitted of money laundering charges in August 2014 after years of investigations due to a lack of evidence. A decision in the highest instance regarding the remaining charge of corruption is still pending.

On June 3, 2013, the Taiwan Justice Department announced that Chen tried to kill himself with a towel in Taichung Prison to protest his conviction.

During the detention period, Chen's health deteriorated significantly. After an examination at a Taichung hospital , severe depression, sleep apnea syndrome , atypical Parkinson's syndromes and cerebral atrophy were diagnosed in April 2014 . Chen's supporters have accused the judiciary of withholding adequate medical care from the former president, and there are also voices calling for Chen's release on health grounds.

In addition, Chen's supporters expressed doubts about the legality of the legal proceedings and charged that the treatment of the ex-president resulted from the desire of the Kuomintang, which has ruled since 2008, to seek revenge on a political opponent.

On January 5, 2015, Chen Shui-bian was given a month's exemption for medical treatment. His former Vice President Annette Lu had previously tried to draw attention to his situation with a hunger strike. With the assistance of a medical report, the Ministry of Justice announced on February 5, 2015 that the exemption from custody had been extended for a further three months, as Chen's health had not improved noticeably. Since then, Ms. Chen has been exempted from detention due to medical conditions.

On May 5, 2019, Chen publicly presented his memoirs in Taipei. In July 2019, he announced the formation of a new party, the One Side One Country Action Party . However, the Taiwan Central Electoral Commission banned him from actively participating as a candidate in the 2020 Legislative Yuan election due to the pending prison sentence .

literature

Web links

Commons : Chen Shui-bian  - collection of images and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian quits his party . In: chinadaily.com.cn, China Daily , August 15, 2008. (English)
  2. ↑ President Chen continues to seek the abolition of the death penalty in Taiwan . ( Memento of July 13, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) In: rti.org.tw, Radio Taiwan International , October 15, 2007
  3. ↑ President Chen Shuibian is committed to founding a world environmental organization . ( Memento from July 8, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) In: rti.org.tw, Radio Taiwan International , October 12, 2007
  4. ↑ Chen Shui-bian resigns DPP chairman for failure in "legislature" election . In: people.com.cn, People's Daily , January 13, 2008.
  5. ↑ Parliamentary election: landslide victory for Guomindang . ( Memento from July 15, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) In: rti.org.tw, Radio Taiwan International , January 12, 2008.
  6. ↑ David Barboza: Former President of Taiwan Is Detained in a Corruption Inquiry. In: nytimes.com. The New York Times , November 11, 2008, archived from the original January 6, 2018 ; accessed on December 18, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Life sentence for former president. In: faz.net . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , September 12, 2009, accessed on December 18, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Chen Shui-Bian sentence cut to 20 years. In: rfi.fr. Radio France Internationale , June 11, 2010, accessed December 18, 2019 .
  9. ↑ 特 偵 組 查 無 陳水扁 海外 洗錢 證據 全 案 簽 結 - “Special investigators find no evidence of Chen Shuibian's money laundering abroad”. In: ltn.com.tw. Liberty Times , August 6, 2014, accessed December 18, 2019 (Chinese).
  10. ^ Taiwan ex-leader Chen Shui-bian 'tries to take his own life'. In: bbc.co.uk. BBC News , June 3, 2013, accessed December 18, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Chen Shui-bian hospitalized due to severe headache. In: chinapost.com.tw. The China Post , April 3, 2014, accessed January 5, 2014 .
  12. ^ Former president granted day out of jail for checkup. In: taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times , March 6, 2012, accessed January 5, 2014 .
  13. ^ Academicians petition for former president's release. In: taipeitimes.com. Taipei Times , July 4, 2014, accessed January 5, 2014 .
  14. ^ Taiwan divided by ex-leader's conviction. In: bbc.com. BBC News , September 11, 2009, accessed January 5, 2014 .
  15. ↑ Taiwan ex-president Chen Shui-bian granted parole. In: bbc.com. BBC News , January 5, 2014, accessed January 5, 2014 .
  16. ↑ 劉 峻 谷 - LIU Jungu:保外就醫 延長 扁 在家 過年 - "Exemption for medical treatment extended, Chen Shuibian spends the Chinese New Year at home". (No longer available online.) In: udn.com. United Daily News , February 5, 2015; archived from the original on December 8, 2015 ; Retrieved on June 27, 2021 (Chinese, author's name generated by means of Pinyin transcription and does not have to correspond to the author's official spelling of the name).
  17. ↑ Liang Pei-chi, Chen Yi-shun, Evelyn Kao: Taipei mayor attends launch of Chen Shui-bian memoir. In: focustaiwan.tw. Focus Taiwan, May 5, 2019, accessed December 18, 2019 .
  18. ^ Matthew Strong: Taiwan ex-president barred from running in legislative election: Corruption sentence disqualifies Chen from standing for office: CEC. In: taiwannews.com.tw. Taiwan News , December 13, 2019, accessed December 18, 2019 .
Note: In this article, the family name is placed before the first name of the person. This is the usual order in Chinese. Chen is the family name here, Shui-bian is the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Chen, Shui-bian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chén, Shuǐbiǎn (pinyin); Tân, Chúi-píⁿ (Pe̍h-ōe-jī); Can4, Seoi2bin2 (Jyutping); 陳水扁 (Chinese, traditional character); 陈水扁 (Chinese, abbreviation)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Taiwanese politician and president
BIRTH DATE October 12, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Guantian