Chen claims he governed Taiwan as U.S. proxy

TVBS aired an interview yesterday with President Chen's attorney Jonathon Levy in the United States who filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C.

The former president is suing U.S. President Barack Obama and his Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for failure to continue placing Taiwan under military occupation.

In an affidavit in support of the petition for a writ of certioraris, President Chen said he would like to go to Washington to testify against Obama and Gates.

A writ of certioraris is issued from a superior court calling up the record proceeding in an inferior court for review.

Levy told TABS the sole purpose of his client suing Obama and Gates is to get himself out of detention.

Levy was quoted as saying Chen wants the non-existing American military government to instruct the current de facto civil administrator of Taiwan to cease the politically motivated prosecution of his client.

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's troops took over Taiwan from the Japanese by General Order No. 1 of General Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of the Allied Forces in the Far East, at the end of the Second World War in 1945.

No peace agreements were signed to end that status of Taiwan, President Chen claims.

As a matter of fact, “he's requesting intervention by the U.S. military to free him by whatever means,” Levy said

In particular, Chen wanted to tell the American appellate court during his eight-year tenure, he “accepted the instructions of the chairmen of the American Institute in Taiwan on many occasions, even when their instructions interfered with my presidential decision-making.”

“Mr. Chen was acting as the agent of the U.S. government and was taking orders from the United States. This meant making him an official of the U.S. military,” Levy point out.

DPP leaders, who have disagreed with Chen on the status of Taiwan, were shocked to hear of him calling himself an agent of the U.S. military government.

Lawmaker Tsai Huang-liang, DPP legislative caucus deputy whip, told TVBS “every one of us was shocked.”

But he forgave President Chen.

“Perhaps, he wanted to do something in desperation,” Tsai said. “Or maybe his attorney has just cooked it up, he added.

Other DPP heavyweights said Chen's move won't help him in any way. “It's too complicated for him to leave behind the nightmare of continued detention,” said one heavyweight, who refused to be named.

Chen has been detained since December 30 last year. He was convicted of corruption and sentenced to life in jail on September 11. He appealed to the Taiwan high court, which turned down his request for release on bail on Thursday.

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