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‘Red Shirts’ revive anti-graft protests against Taiwan's president

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Tens of thousands of anti-corruption protesters blocked the boulevard in front of the Presidential Office yesterday on the anniversary of a massive 2006 demonstration demanding that President Chen Shui-bian step down over suspected corruption.

Led by Shih Ming-teh, a 25-year political prisoner and former chairman of Chen’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) around 50,000 protesters donned red T-shirts and protest headbands written with words like “Anti-corruption, depose Chen” in a repeat of the start of a series of huge demonstrations.

Demonstrators used 300,000 candles to form the Chinese character “Pi” or “fart,” which also means “reckless talking” to show their distrust in Chen and their anger about him.

At least 1,000 riot police were deployed to maintain order, but no clashes were reported except for some protesters complaining that Shih did not take radical action to lead the crowd to charge into Chen’s office to force him out.

“The same place, the same old friends. As the same corrupt president is still there, your anger is totally understandable,” Shih told the crowd.

Shih, Taiwan’s most famous democracy campaigner, is still recuperating from liver cancer and had to get doctors’ permission to address the protesters.

But he assured his supporters that their peaceful protests would pay off.

“Because of you, whoever is elected as the president in the future will not dare to be corrupt,” said Shih.

He explained that he and organizers of the anti-corruption campaign had come under great pressure to adopt violent protest actions.

It would be easy for him to cross the red line to lead the people into the Presidential Office and Chen’s residence to force out the president, Shih said.

But that would be tantamount to a coup d’etat and harm Taiwan’s hard-won democracy because it could set a precedence for future politicians to wrest power by violent force, he continued.

One of his aides revealed that Shih had toyed with the idea of sacrificing himself with self-immolation

but was dissuaded after Chen’s wife, Wu Shu-chen, and several close aides were put on trial on corruption and forgery charges for allegedly embezzling NT$14.8 million from state funds only for the president’s personal use.

“This is an extremely important activity in Taiwanese history,” Shih told the crowd yesterday. “No one can say the work of Shih Ming-teh’s red shirt army is over.”

Shih urged all anti-corruption supporters to make a historic change with their ballots next year.

He said all voters should only give their votes to a presidential candidate who meets five major criteria, including letting the parliament pass the anti-corruption laws, guaranteeing reconciliation of Taiwan society instead of sparking hatred, organizing coalition government to serve the people and avoid conflicts, reviving the economy, and completing the trial of the case related to the first lady.

President Chen had said he would resign if a lower court found his family guilty of corruption, but more recently he hinted that he may not step down as promised because he thought the judicial system in Taiwan is not trustworthy.

He suffered a further blow after the Taiwan High Court extended the sentences for both Chao Chien-ming, his son-in-law, and Chao’s own father in June. The jail terms set new records for people convicted of insider trading.

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