No. 3, August 29, 2019

● Featured News: Han Takes Legal Action Against Chen Chu’s Photographer for Trespass

● Featured Editorial: State Apparatus: Is it Now Surnamed DPP?
● Featured Opinion: A Falling Leaf Reveals the Coming of Autumn: Han Should Take Legal Action Against State Apparatus
● This Week in Taiwan: Other Important Events This Week

Han Takes Legal Action Against Chen Chu’s Photographer for Trespass

China Times, August 20, 2019

 

Former Kaoshiung City Mayor Chen Chu’s photographer Wu Chien-Hong（吳建鴻）, after the new mayor took office, sneaked into incumbent Mayor Han Kuo-yu’s office multiple times before being discovered during Chinese New Year. In a press release on August 20, the Kaohsiung City Government indicated that it will press charges against Mr. Wu for burglary and invasion of privacy, after receiving papers from the Kaoshiung District Prosecutors Office.

 

The municipal government pointed out that Mayor Han, after the local elections in November last year, had received repeated warnings from friends familiar with the intelligence circles that his activities and whereabouts might have been tracked and monitored by the state apparatus.

 

Earlier, Mayor Han was not mindful of the warnings, but some incidents dawned on him the real existence of close surveillance on him. The intelligence insiders reminded him that tracking devices could have been surreptitiously placed in his vehicles and mobile phones. Mayor Han said on August 20 that he now felt keenly the state apparatus is very much in action and tracking devices may have been installed in his vehicle.

 

The Kaohsiung City Government pressed charges against Mr. Wu today for his breaking into the Mayor’s Office five times. Besides being photographed during a private family trip to Bali Island, Mayor Han’s invitees on his State Affairs Advisory Team for the 2020 presidential election raised concerns of possible monitoring by the state apparatus. He was fed up with this and decided to speak out about the suspected state surveillance, hoping that it would cease.

 

From: https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20190820003238-260407?chdtv

 

State Apparatus: Is it Now Surnamed DPP?
United Daily News, August 20, 2019

 

The term “state apparatus” has become a hot issue in the 2020 presidential campaign. The controversy began from a photo leaked to the media, which clearly shows Kaohsiung City Mayor and Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Han Kuo-yu playing mahjong with family and friends six months ago at a resort in Bali, Indonesia during the Chinese New Year holidays. Han suspects that he is being monitored by the government. Former Premier Chang San-cheng, chair of Han’s Policy Advisory Team, laments that among his 200-plus-member advisory group, half of them are asked to keep anonymous due to their worries of their “water meter” being checked by the government. Chang then called upon President Tsai Ing-wen to swear in front of the goddess Mazu in the temple that she did not abuse state apparatus. In replying to opposition’s accusation, President Tsai and Premier Su Tseng-chang refuted in same caliber: “The state apparatus is too busy to mess with these matters.”

 

The so-called “state apparatus” is a term that describes the authoritarian era. It implies that the ruler controls people through tools, such as administration, law, system, and so on. It is a term frequently used by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) when in opposition to condemn then ruling party KMT’s dominance and no distinguish between government and party. Ironically, this terminology is now being used to question the ruling DDP’s abuse of power. To face Mayor Han’s questioning, Premier Su mocked Han as “living in the martial law era”. In fact, other than the disputable mahjong photo, the Tsai administration’s abuse of the state apparatus is getting worse. The state apparatus, which should be impartial, has gradually become tools of DPP for grabbing resources and controlling people.

 

Several current events indicate that DPP has abused the state apparatus in areas such as administration, education, and public resources. Take education as an example. In a 2019 version of the “Ethics and Society” textbook for first-year high school students, there are a lot of illustrations of DPP’s political figures, which many find to be DPP propaganda. Many illustrations are barely relevant, if not irrelevant, to the text. As a new school year approaches in September, many parents are shocked and find this improper. DPP condemned the education policies during KMT rule as “brainwashing”. Take a look at what DPP is doing now. Isn’t this “brainwashing” as well?

 

As to the Control Yuan, one of the five branches of government under Constitution, ever since the 11 members nominated by President Tsai entered the 29-member Control Yuan, it has fallen into schizophrenia. No longer can it impartially assess government employees, not to say discipline the ethics of whole bureaucracy. President Kuan Chung-ming of National Taiwan University (NTU) had been writing anonymous weekly columns while serving as a government official. Writing editorials has never been considered as “taking a part-time job”. Yet some Control Yuan members nominated by President Tsai insist that writing editorials for Weekly is a part-time job, and accordingly sent Kuan’s case to the Public Service Disciplinary Committee (PSDC) in the name of “impeaching Kuan’s illegally taking part-time job”. Recently, Kuan testified in the PSDC, that the Control Yuan has abused power. “Investigation, which including an overall review of my bills, receipts, and accounts 20 years ago, was unproportionally far beyond normal practice. Such impeachment is political repression”, said Kuan.

 

The general public can sympathize with Kuan’s indignation. The DPP administration began a “block Kuan” (obstruct Kuan from taking office as NTU president, despite his election by the selection committee) since January 2018. After a 12-month dog-fight, alternation of three education ministers, Kuan finally took office in January 2019. The attempt to “block Kuan” was thwarted. Yet the dog-fight is going on. This impeachment, in fact, is a continuation of the “block Kuan” campaign. Through its control of the Control Yuan, the DPP administration seeks to disqualify Kuan from the NTU presidency. What the Government did to Kuan trampled on university autonomy, offering a distorted interpretation of authorless editorial as “anonymity” and “illegal part-time job”. A series of groundless accusations of DPP to academic elites is shockingly incredible. As DPP administration bluntly steers the state apparatus, it would not be too surprising if the disciplinary committee announces Kuan’s removal from the NTU presidency in September. This government obviously cares only its political interest instead of its credibility and legitimacy.

 

We contrast Kuan’s impeachment against Vincent Chao’s appointment as the political director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States. The former English oral interpreter had no professional experience as a diplomat in the foreign service.

 

Some non-pro-Tsai members of the Control Yuan, therefore, censured the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for such a wrong appointment. The Foreign Ministry replied, arrogantly, that the Control Yuan’s report was “not acceptable” because it did not meet the facts. More outrageous, President Tsai Ing-wen expressed that she hopes that Control Yuan respect the constitutional powers of the executive branch. If so, is the Executive Yuan can do whatever it wants? If so, isn’t it an overreach for the Control Yuan to impeach Kuan?         

 

This kind of chaos have been occurred repeatedly in last two years. Investigations from the same Control Yuan, some cases face severe tortures, some meet deaf ears. Politics and partisan will determine the outcome of auditory investigations. As long as the politics is right and conforms to the will of high-ranking officials, green light all the way. Absent the right politics or attention from top leaders,  subjects however innocent end up guilty.    

 

The most horrifying is that the ruling DPP, now dominant in power, has not only forsaken all its ideals and pursuits while in opposition but is copying and exceeding the KMT’s wrongdoings during authoritarian era.

 

The commentary that the state apparatus is “busy” is not ungrounded. It is there. It is busy. Yet this state apparatus has been name-changed. It is now surnamed “DDP” and serves the Democratic Progressive Party.

 

From: https://udn.com/news/story/7338/4000640

A Falling Leaf Reveals the Coming of Autumn: Han Should Take Legal Action Against State Apparatus

By Yeh Yu-lan
China Times, August 21, 2019

  

A recent leaked photo of Kaohsiung City Mayor Han Kuo-yu playing mahjong with his family during Chinese New Year in Bali, Indonesia has made Han suspect his being monitored by the state apparatus. The two heads of government, President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Su Tseng-chang, both responded by saying the state apparatus was too busy to do such a thing.

 

Both Tsai and Su used the phrase “state apparatus” without hesitation. They seem to forget the term “state apparatus” is derogatory because its operation only protects the interests of the ruling class by ensuring its control over the working class. In other words, the state apparatus is a tool for the ruling class to control other classes. The military, the police, the court and the prison are all important components of the state apparatus. An abuse of power of the state apparatus may lead to tyranny. Therefore, we should observe the rule of law and separation of powers.

 

What is the state apparatus busy with these days?

 

The Transitional Justice Commission (TJC) set up in May 2018 under the Executive Yuan is supposed to be an “independent” organization with “impartial commissioners exercising their duty free from the influence of political parties according to the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice of 2017. However, only a few months after its initiation, TJC Vice Chairman Chang Tien-chin was recorded at an office meeting in saying that the role of New Taipei City mayoral candidate Hou You-yi, as a police detective in the arrest of opposition member Cheng Nan-jung in 1989 was a “worst case of transitional justice” and “should be used” to defeat Hou in the elections. Chang then said proudly that the Commission had been elevated from the status of the Western Depot to the Eastern Depot, referring to the powerful and infamous secret police agency run by eunuchs during the Ming Dynasty. The recording exposes that the Transitional Justice Commission is in fact the worst-case scenario because it has changed from a state to a party apparatus and is used by the ruling party as a tool to hold on to power. No wonder the state apparatus is so busy.

 

The state apparatus is not just busy handling political opponents of opposition parties. DPP presidential primary candidate William Lai implied in an interview in May 2019 that the state apparatus might involve in vote mobilization and coercion in the primary. “It is really unnecessary and unbecoming to use the state apparatus to interfere with the party primary.” Lai said to reporters, “After all, it’s only a primary.” It is embarrassing that Lai made that remark admitting he was also a victim of abuse of power right after he stepped down as premier, the position that has control over the state apparatus.

 

Han’s suspicion of being monitored by the state apparatus grew deeper a few days ago when he revealed a tracking device might have been planted on his car. Pan Heng-hsu, Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau director and a key member of Han’s team, also said that he had been followed for over eight months. Offenses against privacy can be initiated only upon complaint. Despite that the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan, the public prosecutor and the police all suggest mayor Han to file charges to initiate investigation, Han decided not to do so on the ground that the public prosecutor and the police are also part of the state apparatus. A city councilman eventually brought the charge to the police, but the councilman is not the victim of the offense and therefore cannot file the charge on Han’s behalf.

 

Is there really no way to cope with this abuse of power? As a matter of fact, there are similar cases for reference throughout the times and around the world. In 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon sought re-election and worried that his opponent George McGovern might possess documents against him, so he sent people to break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at Watergate office complex to photograph campaign documents and install wiretap devices. After the Watergate break-in was exposed by newspapers, Nixon had to resign and his chief of staff and many White House counsels were convicted and served prison time. The key figures in exposing the Watergate scandal are a deep throat in the state apparatus and two relentless reporters. The 2018 exposure of the recording of Chang Tien-chin equating Transitional Justice Commission to Eastern Depot was also the works of a courageous whistleblower and undaunted news media.

 

Since Han assumed office as mayor, there have been successive talks of the state apparatus surveillance and harassment. Only the photographer who broke into Han’s office was indicted after criminal investigation, other incidents remain in the stage of “suspicion.” The involvement of the state apparatus in primary elections and political surveillance is a serious matter that can undermine the foundations of our country. These allegations should not be mired in the absence of legal action, sending the public trust in government falling. I believe members of the judicial branch of government are not mere instruments of the state apparatus controlled by the ruling political party. They are civil servants with ideals and conscience who always perform their duties impartially and professionally. Without them, former President Ma Ying-jeou would not have been rendered innocent in the final verdict of the secrets disclosure case.

Mayor Han, please take legal action!

From: https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20190821004625-262104?chdtv

August 21: According to an official announcement by the U.S. Department of Defense, the State Department approved the sale of 66 F-16 V fighter jets and related equipment and support to Taiwan, with an estimated cost of $8 billion USD. This is the first military aircraft sales to Taiwan since 1992 and the largest arms sales to Taiwan in recent years.

August 22: Mainland Chinese tourists are dwindling by the numbers, and Taiwan’s tourism industry foresees a cold winter. The famous 51-year-old Hotel Kingdom in Kaohsiung announced on August 22 that it will end operations from November. CJW International, which specializes in mainland tourists, has also begun to require employees to take unpaid time off, work less hours, or leave without pay for half a year.

August 23: Former President Chen Shui-bian criticized President Tsai Ing-wen for taking undue credit. Although she never handled it, Tsai claims that she requested the purchase of the current building of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York when she was vice premier. The building was signed in July 2004 and opened in October 2005, but Tsai became vice premier in January 2006. Andrew Hsia, former director-general of TECO in New York, who actually oversaw the purchase of the building, commented that President Tsai remembered wrong.

August 23: The Justices of the Constitutional Court, Judicial Yuan, interpreted the constitutionality of pension reform laws for retired military personnel, civil servants, and teachers. The 781st, 782nd, and 783rd interpretation of the Constitution held unconstitutional suspending pay for retired military personnel, civil servants, and teachers employed in private school with a salary exceeding a certain amount. However, the Constitutional Court declared constitutional major disputes, including retroactive application and violation of legitimate expectation, under the current pension reform system.

August 23: The Taipei District Prosecutors Office investigated the scandal of smuggling 9,797 bars of cigarettes by National Security Bureau (NSB) personnel. It found that during the foreign visit by President Tsai Ing-wen, NSB officers Wu Tsung-hsien (吳宗憲), Chang Heng-chia (張恒嘉), China Airlines official Chiu Chang-hsin (邱彰信), and 13 other people were liable for enrichment under the Anti-Corruption Act and tax evasion under the Tax Collection Act. They will be prosecuted in a first wave of cases as defendants.

Taiwan Weekly is a newsletter released every week by Fair Winds Foundation, Taipei Forum, and Association of Foreign Relations that provides coverage and perspectives into the latest developments in Taiwan.

The conclusions and recommendations of any Taiwan Weekly article are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the institutions that publish the newsletter.