MCLC: KMT hit by scandal

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: KMT hit by scandal
********************************************************

Source: Washington Post (9/12/13):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/taiwans-president-ruling-p
arty-hit-by-scandal-rifts-anger-over-wiretapping/2013/09/12/355ed3a8-1bb8-1
1e3-8685-5021e0c41964_story.html

Taiwan’s president, ruling party hit by scandal, rifts, anger over
wiretapping
By William Wan 

BEIJING — A widening political scandal is threatening to split Taiwan’s
ruling party and set back efforts to build closer economic ties with China.

Recent allegations of influence peddling by Taiwanese politicians, driven
in part by investigators’ wiretaps of one lawmaker’s cellphone
conversations, have stirred fear and paranoia among some political leaders.

“I’m sorry. It’s not safe to talk right now. We are being monitored,” said
a political adviser within the Nationalist Party, whose leaders have both
driven the investigation and been the ones most damaged by it.

Taiwan’s justice minister has been forced out, and its high-profile
legislative speaker has been expelled by his party.

The fallout could have sweeping consequences for Taiwanese politics,
weakening the already unpopular administration of President Ma Ying-jeou
and giving a boost to the opposition party, which is much less friendly
toward mainland China.

The dominoes began falling when Taiwan’s high court overturned lawmaker
Ker Chien-ming’s guilty verdict on embezzlement charges.
A special investigative unit within the Taiwanese Justice Department
subsequently wiretapped Ker’s cellphone, and, according to prosecutors,
recorded conversations in which legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng and
Justice Minister Tseng Yung-fu agreed to help Ker ensure that the
overturned ruling stuck.

Both Wang and Tseng have denied the charges of meddling, but Tseng has
since stepped down, and Wang’s party membership was revoked Wednesday.
Wang has vowed to fight his expulsion to keep his legislative position.

At the heart of the growing rift is a long-simmering rivalry
<http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1308608/speaker-wang-jin-pyng-quiet
-man-taiwans-kuomintang> within the Nationalist Party between Ma, its
chairman, and Wang, a party heavyweight who has held the speakership since
1999. Their rivalry dates to 2005, when both competed to lead the
Nationalist Party, also called the Kuomintang. They butted heads again in
2008, competing for their party’s presidential nomination.

This week, Ma called Wang’s alleged meddling in the court case “the most
serious infringement in the history of Taiwan’s judiciary.”
Under Ma, Taiwan’s often-fractious relationship with China has hit its
calmest point in decades. But Ma has taken a beating in opinion polls and
has one of the lowest approval ratings among Taiwanese president. One
recent poll has his rating at 11 percent.

The use of wiretapping has angered critics
<http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/09/12/2003571949>,
who say the administration overstepped the constitution to pursue Ma’s
politically motivated desire to oust Wang.

Ma’s party has also seen serious erosion in public support as the economy
has struggled. And the justice minister’s ouster is at least the fifth
cabinet-level resignation this year. The others included a defense
minister who left over criticism of an army trainee’s death, a replacement
defense minister who left over plagiarism and a premier who resigned
partly over the economy.

The expulsion of Wang, who held significant sway in the parliament, could
create further roadblocks for Ma’s policy goals, including getting
approval for a service-trade agreement with China. Some in Taiwan have
opposed the agreement over fears that the island is already too
economically tied to the mainland. Wang also had good ties with Taiwan’s
opposition party, which has criticized Ma for his handling of the
investigation and referred to the wiretapping scandal as “Taiwan’s
Watergate. 
<http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/09/12/2003571951>”

Liu Liu contributed to this report.