OPINION> Columnist
Fasting or political maneuvering?
By Li Hongmei (  chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-11-19 15:04

The former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian was found in a ‘critical’ condition and taken to hospital Sunday night following his self-imposed fasting. Chen began the hunger strike at the Taipei detention house Tuesday after district court had ordered him arrested for further questioning in connection with his corruption and money laundering scandal.

Many analysts across the Taiwan Straits think Chen kicked off his fasting to claim his ‘innocence’ and a mudsling at what Chen believed political persecution against him.

‘It is more of a political farce. Chen Shui-bian put on this show, in keeping with his past pattern of political posturing, by playing innocent and shifting the public attention from the lawsuit to partisan matters in a bid to fend off legal charges against him,’ said Chen Jibing, a senior staff on media studies.

Although Chen, self-proclaimed as ‘Son of Taiwan,’ has never identified himself as a Chinese, he literally knows how to take advantage of the infant democracy and far-from-perfect legal systems there. That explains why he lately deliberately disregarded the details in the lawsuit, but launched a barrage of wild accusations against Kuomintang.

Following his standard practice, Chen has been pursuing the strategy of ‘one stone, two birds’— whitewashing the bribery charges against him while fanning the fury flames amid the hardcore ‘Taiwan independence’ supporters in the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), in a ploy to create trouble for the current Taiwan Authorities led by Ma Ying-joe.

Chen has been disguising himself as the ‘defender’ of ‘Taiwan independence and Taiwan democracy. Even in the detention house, he has been shouting loud that Ma and the ruling Kuomintang are ‘selling out Taiwan’. Obviously, the increasing closer liaison and cooperation by both sides of the Straits to sustain peace and good will has ached Chen and his followers.

Many netizens posted their opinions on China Daily’s website pouring scorn on the poor show made by Chen to deceive the public and confuse the facts. ‘I dare say he is not ‘Son of Taiwan,’ as he proclaimed himself to be, but a shame of Taiwan,’ a netizen wrote in his blog.