Taiwan's Chen rattles the prison
bars By Jens Kastner
TAIPEI - Taiwan's former president Chen
Shui-bian, serving the third year of his
17-and-a-half-year prison term for corruption, has
been grabbing much renewed attention lately. This
time around, however, it is not his crimes or
trials that are in the focus but the state of his
health.
The list of Chen's ailments seems
to grow longer every week, and his doctors now say
the former head of state will die within four
years if not released from his tiny cell. But
while appeals for Chen's medical parole have been
gaining momentum both in Taiwan and elsewhere, his
successor in office, President Ma Ying-jeou of the
Kuomintang, seems to remain unimpressed. He shows
no hurry in letting Chen go, even though a release
would hardly harm the KMT the slightest. Quite the
opposite - the
prospect of Chen emerging
from behind the bars frightens his former
political companions.
Acute coronary
syndrome, two benign tumors, degenerative joint
disease, hypothermia, autonomic instability,
post-traumatic stress syndrome and clinical
depression - this is what Chen has so far been
diagnosed with this year. According to contested
accounts, he has made three suicide attempts - two
by hunger strike, and one by banging his head
against prison walls. Solely blamed by his
supporters for the former president's health
problems are the conditions of detention in Taipei
Prison.
He is allowed to spend time out of
his 4.56-square-meter cell for only an hour a day.
Unlike his fellow inmates, he's not allowed to
work in the prison's workshops, suggesting he has
considerable less daily social interaction.
Furthermore, undoubtedly hard to bear for Chen,
62, is the disturbing feature that in his cell, he
has to make do without bed, table or chair.
"Falling from heaven to hell," is how he
recently described his drastic drop in living
standards.
As a movement calling for his
release on medical grounds gains momentum, it at
long last seems as if Chen's days behind bars are
numbered, however. In mid-June, a team of US
medical experts flew in to investigate his
imprisonment, subsequently labeling the conditions
of the former president's confinement as
"unacceptable". A week later, a handful of local
doctors launched an online petition calling for
medical parole, and almost simultaneously, the
city council of Greater Taichung, a constituency
in Taiwan's center, passed a motion calling for
his release for medical treatment as soon as
possible.
Then, Chen's former party, the
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), also became
more vocal. The disgraced former leader was
expelled by his political companions in 2009, but
they now urge public support for him.
On
July 14, more encouragement from abroad came in:
Two US lawmakers submitted a medical report to a
US Congress human rights commission, calling for
immediate medical parole. The news that doctors
hired by Chen's family found his life was at risk,
and that he would die within four years if not
released, subsequently grabbed headlines in the
island's media.
And on July 18, a US
senator urged the administration of President
Barack Obama to come to Chen's rescue.
Although - at least according to a US
diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks -
President Ma once considered exercising his power
to pardon his predecessor, there are no recent
signs whatsoever that he will grant mercy. He has
repeatedly ruled out presidential parole, and he
generally preaches law and order. Preferential
treatment for someone who used his presidency to
wire US$22 million secretly into Swiss bank
accounts seems not quite to fit with Ma's
standards.
Indeed, when pros and cons
confront each other, they might not produce any
conclusion that is convincing to policymakers in
Taipei. On the pro side, there is the argument
that by showing mercy, the Ma administration, and
in turn Taiwan, would do something for its image
internationally. Taipei is certainly well aware of
remarks made by US Representative Steve Chabot,
who compared Taiwan to a "banana republic" for
imprisoning Chen. On the domestic front, it is
often said a release would heal serious political
divisions in Taiwan, as Chen's supporters have all
along seen his downfall as the result of a
political vendetta.
A release would
furthermore mean government officials could afford
to focus on doing their jobs instead of spending
their days worrying about their own personal
safety. The precedent that a head of state has his
predecessor jailed augurs badly for current
leadership circles, as officials are inherently
vulnerable to accusations of illegal acceptance of
a benefit or embezzlement. For example, when
serving as Taipei mayor, Ma was indicted on
charges that included the use public money to pay
for a physical examination and fees to adopt a
dog. (Ma was cleared, but his secretary was not so
lucky, having received a 14-month sentence for the
story.)
Furthermore, but slightly more
abstract, there is the possibility that the lawful
jailing of a former leader serves as a cautionary
tale for leaders of countries that are at the
crossroads toward establishing the rule of law.
More directly put, after having seen Chen's
demise, Chinese Communist Party officials might
think twice about accepting Taiwan as a role model
and giving up power to the judiciary.
On
the con side, there stands first and foremost the
principle of fairness: The circumstance that Chen
once led a luxurious life can hardly justify that
other criminals who are of humbler backgrounds are
treated worse than him. Certainly also worth
considering is that parole is an apparently
unpopular concept in Taiwanese culture. Christian
missionaries lament that forgiveness is rare to
non-existent in the dynamics of a Taiwanese
household, which possibly explains why the public
by and large is indifferent to Chen's case.
Also, John Copper, a US expert on Taiwan
politics and professor of international studies at
Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, said Chen's
story shouldn't be portrayed as anywhere near a
human-rights concern. According to Copper, Chen
hardly deserves having his case seen in that
context as it was during Chen's own presidency
that human rights in Taiwan witnessed a serious
deterioration.
"Press freedom,
discrimination against ethnic minorities, and the
treatment of foreign workers, non-Taiwan-born
spouses and other immigrants all noticeably
declined - but currently the human-rights
condition in Taiwan is considered very good,"
Copper said.
"Chen has been given medical
treatment while in prison and is provided with
adequate medicines; if his health is slowly
failing, it is likely the result of something
other than his medical care."
In terms of
everyday domestic politics, there is much that
suggests that if Chen were to be released now, it
would do the DPP no good. He has written six books
while in jail, with a seventh one in the making,
and he also has a weekly column in the
Chinese-language weekly Next magazine. In his
writings, Chen often settles old scores with
senior DPP figures, particularly former party
chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen and current chairman Su
Tseng-chang. In jail, Chen founded the One Side,
One Country Alliance, which has since won a few
dozen seats in local-council elections, tapping
into the DPP's voter base.
Illustrating
how uneasy Tsai and Su, both of whom are said to
harbor ambitions of running as the DPP's candidate
in the 2016 presidential election, see the
prospect of having Chen once more popping up in
domestic politics and stirring up old DPP
leadership rivalries, it recently took an
obviously reluctant Su weeks and a good portion of
criticism to sign a petition for medical parole;
Tsai last year visited Chen's mother but
conspicuously chose not to echo calls for his
release on the occasion.
Political
scientists don't agree on how great the magnitude
of a release would be, though.
"I think
the DPP would as a whole be harmed by Chen, who
would inevitably push a hard line on cross-strait
relations," said Zhang Baohui, an expert on East
Asian democratization and associate professor at
the department of political science at Hong Kong's
Lingnan University. "Voters don't like a return to
the past."
But according to Wang Yeh-lih,
chairman of the department of political science of
National Taiwan University in Taipei, it would not
matter.
"Ma would not be criticized from
within his own party for granting parole, while
Chen can see people and express his opinions every
day even as he is in prison." Wang emphasized that
in hospital, Chen would have a better living
environment, but still couldn't go to other
places.
"Anyway, they would send him back
to prison once his health got better."
Jens Kastner is a Taipei-based
journalist.
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