Back from Beijing and reading the news from Taiwan.  I follow politics there fairly closely but have not commented much (any?) on Taiwan here.  Well, the issue of the corruption allegations against President Chen Shui-bian has reached a point where comment is necessary, and I find myself agreeing with those who say it is time for him to step down.

    I’ve been a bit skeptical of the allegations against him.  The KMT has obviously been trying to bring him down since he won the 2000 election.  And that election victory was truly historic: the first time that executive power was peacefully transferred by mass electoral means in Chinese history.  I know, I know, Taiwanese nationalists will say that Taiwan is not Chinese (some will even go so far as to say it was never really Chinese); but I am one of those who believe that Taiwan has evolved from a Chinese context and, thus, can still be said to be a variation of sorts of China.  It may be a separate nation, but it is historically and culturally Chinese.  And it is precisely that connection to Chinese history that makes Chen’s presidency so significant.

    But now it has unraveled.  I am in no position to determine definitely what he did or did not do.  Prosecutors have brought charges against his wife and say they have enough evidence to charge him but they cannot because he has immunity due to his office.  The problem is political as much as it is legal, however.  The very notion that the President could face charges fundamentally undermines the legitimacy of the office.   I am, of course, thinking of Richard Nixon here, whose downfall was a formative moment in my own political socialization.  When you have to go on television and explain that you did not break the law, it is pretty much time to give it up (remember Nixon’s famous "I am not a crook" line).

     Chen has been a political fighter for a long time and he certainly knows how to withstand pressure and push back.  But this is not about him any longer.  It is about the integrity of the institutions of democratic Taiwan.  He says he loves Taiwan.  Well, if he does, he should now realize that the democracy that he has done so much to build now require his personal sacrifice.  If he stays until his wife’s case is settled – which might take a year and a half – there will be a cloud hovering over the President’s office.  Taiwan’s international position is difficult enough, it does not need protracted domestic turmoil and doubt.  Moreover, if the DPP is ever going to get its act together to seriously contest the 2008 presidential poll, it would do much better to have new leadership now.

    It may not be fair, what has happened to him.  Perhaps his story of secret diplomatic missions has some truth to it.  Who knows.  There are moments, however, when a gentleman (yes, I am thinking Confucius here) needs to step back from the fray.  It may be impossible, in modern politics, to follow the Confucian idea that "a gentleman does not contend."  But, at the very least, there are times when contention sullies the character not only of the gentleman involved, but of the broader political system as well.  We have arrived at one of those moments in Taiwan.  It is time for Chen to resign.