Tue, Jul 25, 2006 page8

• Editorial: Chiu Yi, the man who cried wolf?

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  Love him or hate him, it's hard to ignore Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅).

  But it was hard not to laugh at him on Saturday when Chiu accused the nation's prosecutors of being "tools of the government." Strange words indeed, coming from Chiu, as no one has benefited more from the prosecutors' willingness to investigate and follow up his nonstop allegations against the government than Chiu himself.

  His allegations have been instrumental in getting former Presidential Office secretary-general Chen Che-nan (陳哲男) and the president's son-in-law indicted on corruption charges, as well as seeing the first lady questioned by prosecutors, although not arrested and held in custody as Chiu and his supporters would no doubt have liked. It is doubtful that such events could have transpired in many of the most liberal democracies around the world.

  Chiu should consider himself fortunate that he lives in the Taiwan of the 21st century, as just 22 years ago such accusations could have seen him suffer the same fate as Henry Liu (劉宜良), the Chinese-American reporter murdered at his home in California for writing an unflattering biography of then-president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). Taiwan has come a long way in a very short time and Chiu should not forget this.

  So how Chiu has the effrontery to accuse prosecutors of bending to the government's will is beyond belief. If that were the case then he would probably be residing in prison right now as a result of the criminal damage he caused when he incited a riot and led a sound truck to repeatedly ram the gates of the Kaohsiung Prosecutors' Office following the 2004 presidential election.

  Prosecutors indicted Chiu more than two years ago for his part in the damage, which was captured on film. This, combined with the fact he was serving a suspended sentence for violating the Public Officials' Election and Recall Law (公職人員選舉罷免法) at the time, means he should have been in prison a long time ago.

  But Chiu and his patrons at TVBS -- he admitted the relationship in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post -- take advantage of Taiwan's highly partisan political atmosphere to make slanderous allegations safe in the knowledge that little, if any, action will be taken against them. Any cry of political persecution brings back painful memories for too many people in Taiwan and ensures that legislators from both sides get away scot-free when making the most outrageous allegations.

  It is all very well to hold endless press conferences exposing government corruption if one has the evidence to support the allegations, but one cannot cry foul when upon investigation these allegations are found to be untrue, or as was discovered in one of the cases uncovered by Chiu, based merely on his suspicion.

  Chiu is an educated man, so even he must be aware that if he continues to make serious allegations against people based on his suspicions, sooner or later he is going to be held accountable for them.

  Slander may not be as serious a crime in Taiwan as in other countries but all people, no matter who they are, should have to answer for their words. Otherwise, who will compensate the prosecutors for all their wasted time and energy? It is no wonder that they have finally gotten round to indicting him.

  The problem with Chiu is that his modus operandi seems to be if you throw enough mud, then eventually some of it will stick. But in most cases it doesn't. And while his role in exposing corruption must be commended, Chiu also has to realize that the more groundless accusations he makes, the less people will take notice of him.

  Hasn't he heard the tale of the boy who cried wolf?
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