Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said he was innocent and dismissed the corruption charges against him as groundless.
In a speech made one day after being indicted on charges of embezzling state funds, the 88-year-old said he did not want to go into details of the case as they “simply came out of the prosecutors’ own heads,” adding that as an old man, “I don’t fear death, let alone these oppression tactics.”
Lee, the nation’s first democratically elected president, is the second former president to be charged with corruption and money laundering after Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was found guilty by the Supreme Court last year.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel (SIP) on Thursday accused Lee and a top aide of illegally siphoning US$7.8 million from secret diplomatic funds used by the National Security Bureau (NSB) and laundering the money during his terms in office from 1988 to 2000.
If convicted, Lee could face at least 10 years in prison, although prosecutors have indicated that they may ask for more a lenient sentence because of his age.
Lee looked unfazed last night when he spoke at a fundraising dinner for the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), a political party he founded in 2001.
Lee told the audience that when he served as president, the only thing he thought about was the interests of the country and the people, adding that he had always been able to separate his private assets and public assets during his tenure.
Lee said that he was determined to defend his innocence and would not be beaten easily.
“If there is no justice in this world, there is God,” Lee said.
In his speech, Lee took a swipe at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), accusing Ma of incompetence and saying his administration’s China-leaning policy was the reason behind Taiwan’s loss of international competitiveness and the increasing wealth gap.
“There is no other way to change the country unless this leader is replaced,” Lee said, reiterating his slogan to “vote against Ma to protect Taiwan.”
Speaking at the same occasion after Lee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the timing of Lee’s indictment was “suspicious.”
Judicial cases “should not be used as tools to serve political interests or for election purposes,” she said.
Given Taiwan’s unique past and circumstances, Tsai said that the legal basis of many “secret funds” and “underground programs” should be re-examined by the government and that it should never be “selective” in handling judicial cases.
Tsai reaffirmed the collaboration between the DPP and the TSU in the upcoming presidential and legislative elections in January, adding that history showed that whenever the two parties chose not to collaborate, the election results were less than desirable.
Earlier yesterday, TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝), noting Lee’s indictment came 15 days after Prosecutor-General Huang Shyh-ming’s (黃世銘) return from a seven-day visit to China, alleged that it was made under Beijing’s instructions.
Huang Kun-huei said it was a Chinese attempt to weaken Lee’s influence ahead of the elections and to malign pro-localized Taiwanese politicians with the label of corruption.
Meanwhile, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was quoted by his office as saying that Lee’s indictment was a “dirty electioneering trick” with Tsai as the target.
Chen also dismissed media reports saying it was his filing of a complaint that led to Lee’s indictment.
Chen, currently serving a 17-year term for corruption and money laundering, has called his case a vendetta carried out by Ma’s government in retaliation for his pro--independence stance while in power.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘ONE BRIDGE’: The US president-elect met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 in Florida and the two discussed a potential Taiwan-China conflict’s implications for world peace US president-elect Donald Trump has described Taiwan as “a major issue for world peace” during a meeting with Akie Abe, the widow of late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted sources as saying in a report yesterday. Trump met with Akie Abe on Dec. 15 at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the two discussed the Russo-Ukrainian war and the situation in the Taiwan Strait. During the meeting, Trump spoke on the implications for world peace of a potential Taiwan-China conflict, which “indicated his administration’s stance of placing importance on dealing with the situation in
QUICK LOOK: The amendments include stricter recall requirements and Constitutional Court procedures, as well as a big increase in local governments’ budgets Portions of controversial amendments to tighten requirements for recalling officials and Constitutional Court procedures were passed by opposition lawmakers yesterday following clashes between lawmakers in the morning, as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members tried to block Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators from entering the chamber. Parts of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法) and Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed the third reading yesterday. The legislature was still voting on various amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) as of press time last night, after the session was extended to midnight. Amendments to Article 4
ALLIANCE: Washington continues to implement its policy of normalizing arms sales to Taiwan and helps enhance its defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US President Joe Biden on Friday agreed to provide US$571.3 million in defense support for Taiwan, the White House said, while the US State Department approved the potential sale of US$265 million in military equipment. Biden had delegated to the secretary of state the authority “to direct the drawdown of up to US$571.3 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan,” the White House said in a statement. However, it did not provide specific details about this latest package, which was the third of its kind to
RSS