Taiwan’s Chief Under a Cloud

The young farm boy studies diligently, becomes a lawyer and is eventually elected president of his country. But that’s where this Abraham Lincoln story ends.

In this version, scandal grips his administration. The legislature succumbs to near-paralysis, opponents call for his resignation, and voters grow disillusioned with the political process.

Beleaguered Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian is fighting for his political life, reputation and legacy. Opponents in the legislature plan to hold a vote early next week on whether to recall him.

Even if the lawmakers’ challenge falls short of the required two-thirds majority, as seems likely, the opposition has threatened to follow with a no-confidence motion. In a two-hour televised speech Tuesday, Chen sought to regain voter confidence by denying wrongdoing and highlighting his achievements.

Chen’s damage-control efforts came after weeks of allegations that his son-in-law was involved in insider trading, his wife had questionable financial dealings with a department store and a key aide was engaged in corruption. All three have denied wrongdoing.

At one level, the scandal is another bout of political infighting, a blood sport of sorts that Taiwanese follow with rapt attention through hundreds of magazines, scores of newspapers and five 24-hour television news networks.

But on another level, some critics say, the scandal is emblematic of Chen’s six years in office. Important structural reforms were delayed, they say, while Chen squandered a huge reservoir of goodwill in Washington and allowed Taiwan’s rivals on the mainland to pursue an increasingly successful campaign to divide the island’s voters and political leaders.

Chen has angered mainland officials and irritated Washington with pro-independence initiatives. He has threatened to scrap Taiwan’s constitution as a step toward formal independence and change the island’s official name to Taiwan from Republic of China, and declared that the largely symbolic Unification Council, whose job was to pave the way for eventual union with China, would cease to function.

His reputation for erratic policy announcements has grown in recent years, and he has tended to offer new proposals without warning just before an election. Then, characteristically, he retreats under pressure from Washington.

“Taiwan lost six years of opportunity to consolidate its democracy,” said Bonnie Glaser, senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “This was a tremendous opportunity for Taiwan to strengthen itself.”

Although the mainland initially sniped gleefully at Chen, it has recently toned down its criticism. As damaging as the scandal is to Taiwan’s political system, analysts say, the island still comes across as democratic and more willing than Beijing to crack down on high-level corruption.

So far, opposition legislators have not pinned any corruption charges directly on Chen. But they say he should step down anyway due to incompetence and loss of public trust, with some citing the example of California Gov. Gray Davis.

The president counters that his adversaries are dragging Taiwan down with baseless mudslinging, likening their campaign to show trials during the mainland’s Cultural Revolution.

Absent some new bombshell, many voters appear willing to believe that Chen did not take money himself, although he may be guilty of failing to rein in his family. Still, the allegations are troubling for many because he and his Democratic Progressive Party came to government promising to end “black gold” payoffs and influence peddling after five decades of Nationalist Party cronyism.

Chen, elected in 2000 and 2004 by narrow margins, has had to cope throughout his presidency with a deeply divided legislature, which is now controlled by the opposition.

But analysts say this scandal reduces the chance he will be remembered after leaving office in 2008 for much beyond political maneuvering and mercurial policies.

“Chen has lost his credibility,” said Antonio Chang, a former Chen aide and an independent analyst.

Rumors about Chen family malfeasance have been floating around for years, but they were mostly dismissed as partisan trickery. Starting in April, however, the public began taking more notice after a series of news conferences by opposition legislator Chiu Yi.

Chiu and others alleged with little apparent proof that First Lady Wu Shu-chen took up to $1 million to influence a proposed department store merger and accepted free vouchers from the upscale Sogo department store.

The legislator and others also have accused Chen’s son-in-law, physician Chao Chien-min, of insider trading related to the Taiwan Development Corp. property group. Shares in the partially state-owned company surged ninefold soon after he purchased them. Chao was arrested May 24. A second bail request was recently denied.

The president and his inner circle, known as excellent campaigners, have been uncharacteristically slow to defend themselves. Only in recent days have they gone on the attack.

Mark Chen, secretary-general of the presidential office, accused Chiu, the opposition legislator, of acting “like a psycho, spreading empty accusations every day.”

The president has rejected calls to step down, apologized for betraying voters’ trust and promised to cede more power to colleagues. And aides have tried to distance him from his son-in-law’s family. “A son-in-law is another family,” added Mark Chen, who is not related to the president.

Of greater concern, some say, is loss of faith in Taiwan’s fledgling democracy. “This whole thing is terrible,” said Lu Ming-cheng, 63, a taxi driver in Taipei, the capital. “It seems like almost all politicians are corrupt.”

Analysts say Chen Shui-bian’s experience and personality make him reluctant to consult with others before coming to a decision.

“I think his character flaw is that he only trusts a small circle,” said Lei Chien, an opposition legislator.

Another problem cited is his skill at tactics and short-term maneuvering, sometimes at the expense of broader strategic considerations or statesmanship.

“He’s got a lawyer’s personality, constantly changing his position,” said Lu Shih-hsiang, head of the Foundation for the Advancement of Media Excellence, a watchdog group. “As president, he should manage perceptions better, and manage his mouth.”

Chen was born in late 1950 to impoverished tenant farmers in southern Taiwan. But his parents delayed recording his birth, so his official birthday is Feb. 18, 1951.

Poverty was a fact of life. In one story, Chen recalls his mother putting him in a hole for the day as she worked in the fields to ensure that he didn’t get into trouble.

Chen was driven and persistent, graduating first in his class in elementary school and in junior and senior high. Former classmate Hsu Tain-tsair, now mayor of Tainan, recalls getting a higher mark than Chen on a test when they were 16. Chen refused to speak to Shu for weeks until he’d outscored him in the next test.

Chen took the national bar exam as a junior in college, passing with the highest score to become Taiwan’s then-youngest attorney. He specialized in maritime law and helped defend pro-democracy dissidents who were challenging the ruling Nationalists.

He hit a personal low in 1985 when his wife was hit by a tractor before his eyes and paralyzed, said Chen Shio-shu, 43, his niece. Many suspected it was a plot to kill him. Colleagues say this experience strengthened his belief that he could only trust himself and his inner circle.

While some Taiwanese worry that China may try to capitalize on the political turmoil, mainland officials have been careful about pointing fingers.

“I don’t think there are many advantages for Beijing in speaking out,” said Chiu Tai-san, former deputy head of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees relations with China. “Taiwan is a democracy, and the case shows that even the president’s son-in-law can go to jail.”

The offspring of late paramount Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and of former President Jiang Zemin and late Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang, among others, tend to show up in lucrative business deals.

Chen has been written off before only to come back.

“He is someone who enjoys the fight,” said Chang Wei-jia, Chen’s former campaign strategist. “However, he’s also someone who sometimes forgets his leadership responsibility after he’s won.”

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Magnier is a Times staff writer and Tsai a special correspondent.