Chang Yu-feng (張瑜鳳), the division chief judge who oversaw a case involving Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) at the Taipei District Court, was removed from the panel of chief judges, sparking speculation yesterday that she was being punished for ruling against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
In a Judicial Yuan review of all chief judges on Wednesday, Chang was removed by a seven to four vote due to what the committee said was a “poor performance.” She was the only one who failed to pass the review, which involved 34 judges.
“The composition of the review committee is just and objective, and the review process is fair and transparent,” the Judicial Yuan said.
Photo: Chien Li-chung, Taipei Times
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said Chang’s removal was to make an example of her and shows the KMT’s intention to interfere with Wang’s second trial.
Chang was the chief judge in a trial that ruled on Sept. 13 last year in favor of Wang’s provisional injunction seeking to retain his KMT membership and position as head of the legislature.
“It seems that [Chang’s removal] is overtime for the ‘September strife’ between (President) Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Wang, and apparently a political crackdown,” DPP spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) told a press conference yesterday.
The “September strife” was a political crisis last year, in which Ma and the KMT accused Wang of being involved in illegal lobbying of the judiciary and tried to revoke his KMT membership, invalidate his status as a KMT legislator-at-large and as legislative speaker.
The timing and motive of Chang’s removal is suspicious and intriguing, DPP caucus Director-General Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said.
“We wonder why all chief judges subject to committee review were able to pass without seeing a vote, while Chang was the only one whose performance was decided by a ballot,” Tsai said.
Tsai said the removal took place two days before the second trial in the Wang case at the Taiwan High Court and “appeared to be an attempt warn to judges who handle the case in the future.”
The Judicial Yuan is responsible for offering an explanation about the decision to remove Chang and tell the public that it did not interfere in the process, DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said. “If the Judicial Yuan fails to do so, the incident will very likely further damage the judicial system, which has been hampered by its bad reputation as various public opinion polls have shown that most Taiwanese do not trust the system.”
KMT Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said clarification is needed.
“The Ministry of Justice or the Judicial Yuan has to clarify the reason [for Chang’s removal],” Lo said. “What wrong did [Chang] do? Is her axing because she upheld justice and ruled in favor of Wang? This is just going too far. Has the nation’s judicial institution become a place for political duels?”
KMT Legislator Tsai Chin-lung (蔡錦隆) said that “there is room for imagination.”
“Won’t [the review result] make people think that there is some sort of political scheme at work? It is certainly weird that there was only one in 34 [presiding judges who were reviewed and got axed],” Tsai Chin-lung said.
KMT-commissioned attorney Lo Min-ton (羅明通) said the situation is not within a commissioned lawyer’s purview, so they have nothing to say about Chang’s removal.
“It is inappropriate for me to comment on this matter,” Wang said in response to media queries.
Additional reporting by Alison Hsiao
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
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS