Word: chen
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Taiwan's trial of the century began Thursday as former president Chen Shui-bian showed up to court to face corruption charges that could result in a life sentence. Chen is accused of taking $9 million dollars in personal kickbacks on a state-sanctioned land deal, embezzling over $3 million from a state fund and laundering millions to overseas accounts. Chen has already admitted his wife wired $20 million in leftover campaign funds overseas, but he insists his case is one of political persecution by the new Kuomintang (KMT) administration, which has been forging closer ties with China since coming...
...nation was watching as Chen, nicknamed the "Son of Taiwan," walked into the courtroom a much thinner man after more than two months in detention. Chen was known during his eight years in office for irritating China with his open support for a greater Taiwanese independence from the mainland. Taiwan's current President Ma Ying-jeou has moved quickly to forge closer economic ties with China since his election last year. Taiwan and China have since opened up tourism, palace museum exchanges, direct charter flights and are planning to discuss further economic agreements this year. (Read TIME's conversation with...
...After charges against Chen were announced in November, prosecutors detained the former leader, now 58, on grounds that he could collude with other suspects in the case if he remained free. As one of the activists that helped bring democracy to Taiwan in the 1980s, Chen insists that the timing of his detention - shortly after a historic visit from a high-ranking Chinese official to Taiwan - expose that the Taiwan's authorities have been biased against him. While being held at the Taipei Detention Center, Chen has been drawing public attention to his cause through extended hunger strikes, writing poetry...
...weighed heavily on his wife, son and daughter-in-law, who have all pleaded guilty to money laundering. His wife's trial began last week. Three of an additional 11 suspects in the case have also made confessions in connection with the bribery and embezzlement charges brought against Chen. But Chen himself continues to insist that any funds the family received were political donations, and that the money was wired overseas by his wife without his knowledge...
...Staff writer Lucy D. Chen can be reached at lucychen@fas.harvard.edu...