US embassy cable - 04TAIPEI3231

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 003231 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS AIT/W 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, TW 
SUBJECT: FUGITIVE COUNTY MAGISTRATE STILL MISSING 
 
 
Classified By: AIT Deputy Director David J. Keegan, Reasons: 1.4 (B/D) 
 
1. (C) Summary: Yunlin County Magistrate Chang Jung-Wei 
disappeared on August 14, shortly after questions were raised 
about his involvement in a local bribery scandal.  He was 
later declared a fugitive after ignoring repeated summonses 
from prosecutors.  Chang claims he is the victim of a 
vendetta by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government 
over his support for the opposition during the 2004 
presidential election.  Most observers dismiss Chang's claims 
of political persecution, noting his past brushes with the 
law.  Chang's disappearance will likely be a major issue in 
the upcoming legislative election campaign in Yunlin, which 
will pit Chang's sister against his secretary and the county 
councilwoman who exposed the scandal.  The Chang affair is 
typical of the sort of specific local issues that may 
determine the results of the December election.  End Summary. 
 
From Magistrate to Fugitive 
--------------------------- 
 
2. (U) Yunlin County, a rural politically divided district on 
the west coast of south central Taiwan, has a well-earned 
reputation for corruption, money politics and organized 
crime.  KMT County Magistrate Chang Jung-Wei is no exception. 
 On August 13, as part of an investigation into a bribery 
scandal involving the construction of an incinerator in 
Linnei township, Yunlin prosecutors raided both the office 
and residence of the Magistrate.  On August 16, he was 
summoned by prosecutors for questioning, but failed to 
appear.  After he ignored additional summonses, a warrant for 
his arrest was issued on August 23 and he was officially 
declared a fugitive.  On August 26, Taiwan's High Court 
upheld a separate conviction against Chang for vote-buying in 
his 1994 election for County Council Speaker, sentencing him 
to 12 months of imprisonment.  To date his whereabouts are 
still unknown, although Chang has given several private 
interviews to local newspapers over the past two months to 
dispel rumors that he has fled to China. 
 
3. (U) The investigation began in June, when Yunlin 
prosecutors received an anonymous tip from a local resident 
that Yunlin government officials, including Chang, had 
accepted a large bribe to approve construction on the Linnei 
Incinerator.  Eight contractors and government officials, 
including Linnei Mayor Chen Ho-Shan were brought in for 
questioning.  Chen admitted in July that he had accepted 
NT$18 million ($530,000) in "commissions" from construction 
companies to ensure that contracts would be awarded to them. 
Bank records, however, indicated that over NT$90 million 
($2.7 million) was missing from funds meant to purchase land 
for the incinerator, leading the prosecutors to look at other 
possible suspects, including Magistrate Chang. 
 
Chang: Corrupt Polluter? 
------------------------ 
 
4. (U) The incinerator project has been a flash point of 
controversy ever since Chang proposed it in November 2000. 
Local residents, led by DPP Legislative Yuan (LY) Member Su 
Chi-Fen and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) County Councilwoman 
Yin Ling-Ying, opposed its location just 1.8 km from an 
open-air water treatment facility on public health grounds. 
Yin made repeated attempts over the years to bring the 
incinerator case to court, citing financial irregularities 
and suspicious business practices in the plans for 
construction and operation of the plant.  The incinerator 
issue is the latest incident in a long-running battle between 
Yin and Chang.  In 1999, Yin called in support from the 
international environmental community to fight a 
land-excavation project initiated by Chang that would have 
destroyed the natural habitat of the endangered fairy pitta 
bird.  (Note: Yin is running in the December LY election. 
The DPP's Su is not running for re-election this year, but is 
expected to run for County Magistrate next year.  End Note.) 
 
Or Victim of Political Persecution 
---------------------------------- 
 
5. (U) Chang has denied all charges and claims to be the 
victim of political persecution.  In newspaper interviews, he 
has said the investigation is being used by the present 
administration to punish him for his outspoken campaigning on 
behalf of the Pan-Blue Lien-Soong ticket during the March 
presidential election.  He claims to have gone into hiding 
because he fears he will be imprisoned for political reasons 
before he can have his day in court.  His sister, Chang 
Li-Shan, held a press conference shortly after his 
disappearance to allege that Tsai Chi-Wen, the prosecutor in 
charge of the case, had close ties to DPP Legislator Su. 
Other allies of Chang on the County Council have attempted to 
discredit the investigation by suggesting that the 
relationship between Tsai and Su may be "intimate."  (Note: 
Chang Li-Shan is running in the coming LY elections. Because 
she failed to secure the KMT nomination, she will run as an 
independent.  End Note.) 
 
6. (C) Lee Chien-Chung, a local lawyer and brother of TSU 
County Councilman Lee Chien-Hsing, said Chang's claims of 
political persecution were meant to distract attention from 
his criminal activities.  Newspapers report that Chang's 
accusers (Tsai, Su, and Yin) have all received death threats 
from Chang, who has never made a secret of his underworld 
connections and gangster past.  DPP officials involved with 
the 2004 presidential election are even more dismissive of 
Chang's persecution claims.  They say that Chang's reported 
decision to pocket KMT money before the March 20 election 
rather than distribute it on behalf of the Lien-Soong 
campaign was a major factor in Chen Shui-bian's landslide 
victory in Yunlin. 
 
Comment: Politics as usual in Yunlin County 
------------------------------------------- 
 
7. (C) While Yunlin's reputation for corruption and money 
politics is perhaps the worst on the island, the prominence 
of the Chang affair in the ongoing election campaign is 
indicative of the local, sometimes sordid nature of LY 
campaign politics.  In Yunlin, as in many areas of Taiwan, 
personalities and local power politics matter more than party 
label and policy stands.  Septel will further examine the 
role these factors will play in the upcoming LY election. 
PAAL