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[global times special correspondent chen lifei] taiwan people's party chairman ko wen-je was detained by the taipei district prosecutor's office for corruption, bribery and profiteering due to his involvement in the jinghua city plot ratio scandal. although the taipei district court held a detention hearing overnight and ruled that ko wen-je was "returned without bail" (the court believes that the defendant's suspicion is not serious, or there is no risk of fleeing or obstructing judicial investigation, so he was released home without paying a bail), the case still dealt a heavy blow to the people's party, and the future of taiwan's third force has sparked heated discussions on the island.

there is no evidence that ko interfered in the case

the plot ratio of taipei city's jinghua city surged to 840% during ko wen-je's tenure as mayor of taipei, which was questioned by the outside world as a case of collusion between officials and businessmen. the taipei district prosecutor's office investigated the case in may this year and named ko wen-je and others as defendants. according to taiwan's united news network on september 2, the taipei district court held a detention hearing at 8 pm on the 1st. the judge first questioned ko wen-je. ko wen-je denied all the criminal facts raised by the prosecutor, saying that he had not accepted bribes, and that the unknown funds accused by the prosecutor had nothing to do with the weijing group (the developer of jinghua city). in addition, peng zhensheng, then deputy mayor of taipei, also denied the prosecutor's allegations of profiteering and accepting bribes. at about 3 a.m. on the 2nd, the judge ruled that peng zhensheng was allowed to be detained and ko wen-je was released without bail.

ke wenzhe (center) walked out of the taipei district court in the early morning of the 2nd. photo from taiwan united news network

taiwan's united daily news reported that ko wen-je, accompanied by his party member huang kuo-chang, walked from the taipei district prosecutors office to his supporters outside the door and delivered a speech of about three minutes. he said that if the judicial authorities have any questions, they can send him a message, and there is no need to search the residences and central party headquarters of taiwan's main opposition parties in the early morning. he bluntly said, "the prosecutors seized mobile phones and hard drives during the search, and then used the data inside to make up stories." "these two days can be said to have been oppressed and abused." ko wen-je also revealed that in his final defense, he directly told the judge that the 840% plot ratio of jinghua city was transferred to the taipei urban planning commission that year, and he did not ask about it at all. "the mayor will not ask about a single case... all the evidence at present does not show that i have intervened in this case." the people's party issued a statement saying that although some media and online wings continue to cooperate with those in power to crack down on dissidents, "the extent of using all means is far beyond our imagination and patience", but "we will never back down and will fight to the end to defend ko wen-je's innocence."

there will be more levels to come

regarding ko wen-je's release without bail, dpp taipei city councilor chien shu-pei said that this does not mean ko is innocent, and ko is still a defendant in the jinghuacheng case. ma ying-jeou foundation executive director hsiao hsu-cen said in an interview on the 2nd that the dpp authorities want to "hunt down" important figures of the opposition party, and the same trajectory can be seen from ma ying-jeou back then to ko wen-je now. what lai ching-te has done since taking office is to dismantle the majority of the "legislative yuan" and complete "taiwan independence" during his term of office. the opposition can only stop it through cooperation. hsiao hsu-cen said that ma ying-jeou was not guilty in all the cases back then, but all the prosecutors who handled ma ying-jeou were promoted, which is why the current prosecutors want to handle ko wen-je, because he will definitely be promoted.

li yanxiu, chairperson of the kmt's cultural and communications committee and a legislator, said that the detention court's ruling that ko wen-je be released without bail means that the court believes that the evidence presented by the prosecutors alone is not enough to detain ko wen-je, and the prosecutors have been severely slapped in the face. "the prosecutors have frequently made statements through the media recently, but in fact, they have limited evidence at hand." she hopes that the people's party can regain its footing in the shortest possible time. the legislative yuan is about to open, and the opposition will never back down. "supervising the ruling party and proposing more high-quality bills on people's livelihood is the responsibility of the opposition camp."

huang yangming, a senior taiwanese media person, wrote on the 2nd that first, the people's party should not forget that, apart from the judicial case, ko wen-je is "the party chairman on leave", and the self-investigation process within the party is still ongoing, and the political donation storm has not ended; second, the people's party supporters should not forget that the prosecutors have stated that they will appeal; finally, "a bunch of green camp wingers stayed up late and collapsed, which is a very pleasant scene." huang yangming said, "the taipei prosecutors are indeed embarrassed, but neither party should get carried away." united news network said on the 2nd that ko wen-je survived the first judicial hurdle, and there are still political donation cases, the taipei shike case, and the taipei fish and fruit market reconstruction case waiting for him.

the people's party faces its biggest crisis

today, the people's party is considered to be facing the most serious crisis. taiwan's "china times" said on the 2nd that ko wen-je has been in constant trouble, and local "small grass" (ko wen-je supporters) are entangled in their hearts. some supporters in taichung believe that ko wen-je "can talk about integrity but cannot do it", and have successively quit the party, but some people are convinced that he has been politically persecuted. taiwan's former "director general of the department of health" yang zhiliang wrote on the 1st that from the perspective of past historical development, it seems that the third force outside of taiwan's blue and green camps has little room for survival. whether it is the new party, the people first party, the "taiwan solidarity union", the "new power party", or the current people's party, they have all been very powerful, but they collapsed precipitously in a few days, "rising and falling sharply, and the speed of the bubble is both surprising and lamentable." he believes that ko wen-je's personality has completely collapsed, and the people's party will become a thing of the past.

the united daily news reported on the 2nd that the kmt seemed to be waiting and watching, but in fact it was also evaluating the development of the ko wen-je case. some kmt members said that ko wen-je was embroiled in controversy, and the young vote base was hit hard, but these supporters did not return to the kmt, but chose not to express their views. recent polls also showed that the kmt did not gain the supporters lost by the people's party, but the lai ching-te administration benefited from it by relying on the name of "fighting corruption."

"after tomorrow, the people's party" was commented on by china times, saying that the biggest management risk of the people's party is that the rise and fall of the entire party depends on ko wen-je alone. as the jinghuacheng scandal continues to spread, no matter what the final verdict is, if the people's party wants to be reborn, it must quickly break away from the "one-man party" mentality and avoid using the party as the main body to guarantee any individual, including ko wen-je. otherwise, it may fall into the dangerous situation of "ko's destruction means the whole party's destruction."

judicial independence is a long way off

since the beginning of this year, there have been many corruption cases on the island. in addition to ko wen-je, there are also former "executive yuan" spokesperson chen zongyan who was prosecuted for sexual entertainment, former "minister of transportation" li mengyan resigned due to an affair, former straits exchange foundation chairman zheng wencan was accused of accepting bribes while serving as mayor of taoyuan, and taipei city councilor ying xiaowei was detained and denied access to visitors for suspected bribery. a teacher from taiwan university wrote on the 2nd that this is the result of the island's laissez-faire "industry, government, and academia forming accomplices." first, the authorities' supervisory system has degenerated. in the past eight years, the "control yuan" has never taken the initiative to investigate or impeach the absurd, illegal, and dereliction of duty policies of various ministries and commissions, or has always hastily dealt with them under pressure from public opinion. secondly, the so-called judicial independence is nowhere in sight. tsai ing-wen held a "judicial reform conference" with great fanfare seven years ago, but not only has no reform results been seen so far, but the authorities have even more severely appointed people based on personal connections since taking office. finally, the structure of industry, government, and academia accomplices is solid. since lee teng-hui initiated the political culture of "co-governance of industry, government and academia", the exchange of interests among the three parties has become increasingly intense. politicians, consortiums and scholars are almost in a partnership relationship. politicians provide "policy milk" to the consortiums, and the consortiums respond with money and beauty. "lobbying and red envelopes are the same, and human relationships and sex are one."

united news network said on the 2nd that since the addition of the crime of unidentified sources of property, how many political bigwigs have really been subjected to the "microscope-like inspection" treatment of the prosecutors? take zheng wencan's corruption crime as an example. it was signed twice and sealed for 7 years before it saw the light of day again. on the other hand, ma ying-jeou was accused of suspected involvement in the taipei dome profiteering case and leading the "three centrals" case, and other party property-related cases, but was either acquitted or signed. given the "political character" of the prosecutors, it is believed that they have already turned the relevant accounts of ma ying-jeou and his wife upside down, but they have never heard him say that ma must explain the source of his property. as for the chao si imported egg case, although the opposition party has long pointed out that the former "minister of agriculture" chen jizhong was suspected of profiteering, compared with the overwhelming investigation of the ko case, the prosecutors seemed calm, let alone thoroughly investigating the source of property of the relevant people. the article said that one of the key points of the inspection of whether the judiciary is independent in handling cases is "no distinction between colors and unified standards." but apparently, the only political figure who has truly passed this test is ma ying-jeou. as for the politicians in the democratic progressive party, it seems that they will only be able to be thoroughly investigated after the change of political parties.