The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday lodged a complaint against former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) at the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office, claiming the former president’s petition last month asking the US to view him as “an agent in Taiwan for the US military government” constituted treason, among other crimes.
The KMT caucus was referring to Chen’s temporary endorsement of a lawsuit activist Roger Lin (林志昇) filed in a Washington district court to rule on the nationality of the people of Taiwan. Lin wanted the court to decide what rights Taiwanese have under the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the US Constitution.
Calling Chen a “bastard son [龜兒子] of Uncle Sam,” KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said the former president should have defended the sovereignty of the Republic of China instead of “showing his loyalty to the US government.”
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Lu urged prosecutors to investigate the KMT’s claim that Chen committed an “offense against the external security of the state (外患罪)” as soon as possible.
Prior to lodging the complaint with prosecutors, Lu held a press conference at the legislature, where he accused Chen of violating the Constitution.
Lu added that the KMT caucus would take steps to demand that Chen return the salary he received during his eight years as president.
The KMT lawmaker said he would also propose amending the Act Governing Preferential Treatment for Retired Presidents and Vice Presidents (卸任總統副總統禮遇條例) during the current legislative session to revoke the rights and benefits to which Chen is currently entitled as a former president.
In the petition Lin filed with the Washington district court in 2006, he argued that the San Francisco Peace Treaty did not address sovereignty over Taiwan and Penghu, and that the US was therefore still the territory’s principal occupying power. The court dismissed the case, saying it lacked jurisdiction over political matters.
When the US Court of Appeals in Washington upheld the district court’s ruling in April, Lin appealed to the US Supreme Court, which declined to hear Lin’s case earlier this month.
In Lin’s appeal to the US Supreme Court on July 8, Chen signed an affidavit in support of the lawsuit, saying that he would like to clarify in court the relationship between “the people of Taiwan (not the ‘exiled Chinese’ on Taiwan) and the United States.”
In the affidavit, written in English, Chen said that the US has been the “principal occupying power” of Taiwan and that Washington has considered him the head of the “Taiwan governing authorities.”
“Based on this rationale, during my term of office, I accepted the instructions of the Chairmen of the American Institute in Taiwan on many occasions, even when their instructions interfered with my Presidential decision making,” he said in the statement.
Chen’s office issued a statement on Tuesday expressing Chen’s regret over the connection between the former president and Lin’s lawsuit, adding that he only endorsed it to help clear up the US’ position on Taiwan’s status and its Taiwan policy.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHELLEY HUANG
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