In 2022, the public was stirred by New York’s new Republican representative George Santos, whose entire past, including his background, his education and his work experience, all turned out to be false. Santos, who is of Brazilian descent, claimed to have Jewish ancestry; he had also never been a varsity athlete of a prestigious school, nor worked in a renowned investment firm.
Moreover, it was revealed that Santos had spent political donations on personal luxury items, and the US Congress in December last year voted to expel him. Facing several federal fraud charges, Santos last week pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
Similarly, suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), sworn into office in 2022 with much fanfare, was last month sentenced to seven years and four months in prison for corruption in a case involving the embezzlement of legislative assistants’ fees. Last week, she was further sentenced to 10 months in prison for defamation related to thesis plagiarism. The law has brought justice, and Kao is not far from serving time in prison.
Everyone has the right to participate in politics in a democratic society, but being given the opportunity to do so does not grant one the right to act without restraint. The rule of law is the cornerstone of democracy, and fraud and corruption violate this law, after which imprisonment awaits. In prison, the glory of the past becomes a thing of the past. Public officials must strictly distinguish between public and private finances, and adhering to basic legal and moral standards is the bare minimum.
The financial accounts of Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have lately come under investigation. Bookkeeping is quite simple, using accounting software to record all income and expenses, and keeping tabs on all receipts and invoices. Auditors verify the accounts by cross-checking receipts and confirming the figures. There is no such thing as accounts that are not clear unless the person in charge does not want others to know the truth.
TPP leaders can continue their attempts to deceive the public, just as Kao had tried to fool the judge about her thesis, with lawyers and doctors of law by her side joining her charade of lies. However, all these would be meaningless once the judicial authorities get hold of the financial accounts and the truth comes out.
Politics is a public matter and should be pursued with the public’s best interests in mind. If all Ko can think about is purchasing a NT$120 million (US$3.8 million) luxury house, which he said doctors can easily afford, would it not be better for him to go back to being a doctor? Seeing how Kao now faces years in prison, Ko might find out too late that there is no going back for him.
Mike Chang is an accountant based in California.
Translated by Wang Yun-fei
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
US President Donald Trump is systematically dismantling the network of multilateral institutions, organizations and agreements that have helped prevent a third world war for more than 70 years. Yet many governments are twisting themselves into knots trying to downplay his actions, insisting that things are not as they seem and that even if they are, confronting the menace in the White House simply is not an option. Disagreement must be carefully disguised to avoid provoking his wrath. For the British political establishment, the convenient excuse is the need to preserve the UK’s “special relationship” with the US. Following their White House
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
After the coup in Burma in 2021, the country’s decades-long armed conflict escalated into a full-scale war. On one side was the Burmese army; large, well-equipped, and funded by China, supported with weapons, including airplanes and helicopters from China and Russia. On the other side were the pro-democracy forces, composed of countless small ethnic resistance armies. The military junta cut off electricity, phone and cell service, and the Internet in most of the country, leaving resistance forces isolated from the outside world and making it difficult for the various armies to coordinate with one another. Despite being severely outnumbered and
RSS