Taiwan's former president desperate to get out of jail

[ray245]

Economist

BANGED up for life for corruption, a sentence against which he is appealing, Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan’s president in 2000-08, faces a new investigation. This time he is up for treason, a crime that can carry the death penalty. The bizarre charge springs from his own bizarre claim: that, during his tenure, he was an American agent.

The thinking derives from a tiny band of fringe independence activists, now calling itself the Formosa Nation Legal Strategy Association. It argues that the San Francisco peace treaty, signed in 1951 to end the second world war, did not award sovereignty over Taiwan to either Communist China or the Republic of China, over which the remnants of China’s Nationalist party, the Kuomintang (KMT), still claimed to rule. The association insists the treaty overrides all subsequent agreements, and Taiwan is still the territory of Japan’s conqueror, the United States, its status comparable to that of Puerto Rico. Demanding American passport rights, the association’s precursor in 2006 sued America for failing to be a military occupier. After a Washington district court threw the case out, it went to the court of appeals, which in April ruled in favour of the American government. The association then set its sights on America’s Supreme Court.

Mr Chen weighed in to back the association, claiming that, as president, he took orders from the Americans. After his sentencing in September he sued for his freedom in the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, proclaiming his innocence and arguing that America should intervene, as Taiwan was technically under its occupation.

Mr Chen said he did this to clarify that Taiwan was separate from China. But local analysts said he desperately hoped to get out of jail. The former president announced that circumstances had forced him to reveal “the existence of the United States Military Government for Taiwan”. But the American appeals court declined the case in early October. The Supreme Court has also refused to consider the association’s case.

The ruling KMT has made hay over Mr Chen’s outlandish claims, calling him “the bastard son of Uncle Sam”. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which Mr Chen used to lead, is embarrassed. It adamantly does not want Taiwan ruled by either China or America. But it is hard for it to turn on Mr Chen without alienating its own hardliners.

Even without his “treason”, the outlook for Mr Chen looks grim. A court interpretation this month rejected the claim that a controversial switch of judges in his corruption case in December was unconstitutional. Last month Mr Chen received another indictment, over the alleged pocketing of money meant for foreign affairs. So far he is faring no better in America’s courts. But Jonathan Levy, his lawyer, says he is allowed to try again. Many think he will.

Trying to argue that Taiwan is somehow still part of the US? He's definitely desperate.

[Guardsman Bass]

But the American appeals court declined the case in early October. The Supreme Court has also refused to consider the association’s case.

I'm not surprised - based on the nature of the rejection, the Courts (both Supreme and Appellate) more or less said, "This is a Political Question, so we're not going to stick our heads into it."

I mean, can you imagine the shit storm if that argument actually came before the Supreme Court to be argued seriously?

[Vympel]

I fail to see how a prior treaty can be argued to override all subsequent agreements, if those subsequent agreements contradict same.