VZCZCXRO4725
PP RUEHCN
DE RUEHIN #0656/01 0610821
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 020821Z MAR 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8816
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 4780
RUESLE/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 8440
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1075
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5024
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 9043
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 5974

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 000656 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT PASS AIT/WASHINGTON 
DEPT FOR EAP/TC, INR/EAP 
 
FROM AIT KAOHSIUNG BRANCH OFFICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL TW
SUBJECT:  Protest by Suspended Taitung Magistrate - Wu Chun-li 
 
REF: 2005 TAIPEI 4986 
 
  SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. 
 
  ¶1.  (U) After the December 3-in-1 election, the Ministry 
  of the Interior (MOI) suspended the duly-elected Taitung 
  County Magistrate Wu Chun-li (KMT) from his post 
  immediately following his swearing-in ceremony (December 
  20).  The reason given for the dismissal was Wu's 
  conviction in a corruption scandal during his tenure as 
  Taitung County Council Speaker. At the time, Wu argued 
  that according to the "Local Autonomy Law" the MOI had no 
  standing to suspend him from his post because he was 
  convicted prior to his election, not after it. Wu also 
  argued that according to the law, MOI could not deprive 
  him of his right, after being sworn in, to appoint his ex- 
  wife as Deputy Magistrate, thus effectively lining her up 
  to take over as Acting Magistrate while the suspension 
  issue snaked its way through the press and possibly the 
  courts. 
 
  ¶2.  (U)  Both Wu and his supporters have petitioned the 
  "Administrative Court" (the court that has jurisdiction 
  for verifying the legitimacy of administrative procedural 
  disputes) to question the legitimacy of the MOI's 
  suspension order.  The petition was rejected by the 
  Administrative Court, with instructions from the Court 
  that the petition should go to the Executive Yuan - the 
  supervisory agent of the MOI.  Knowing that the Executive 
  Yuan is completely controlled by DPP players, Wu felt the 
  effort to appeal to them about a legal matter was 
  useless.  He formally announced his resignation. 
 
  ¶3.  (SBU) Recently, Wu's ex-wife (see reftel) Kuang Li- 
  chen asked an AIT/K contact in Taitung to send a copy of 
  Wu's challenge to the MOI along to AIT/K with the hope 
  AIT/K could use its influence to register "its concern" 
  about this case to Taiwan government authorities.  In 
  Wu's protest document, the case is characterized as "a 
  savage violation by government of the people's will, a 
  violation against law, and justice."  AIT/K has taken no 
  action on this request, but has acknowledged receipt of 
  the document. 
 
  ¶4.  (SBU) Wu's protest against the MOI may actually have 
  a legitimate legal basis, according to the Taitung KMT 
  office.  The law applied by MOI says only that an 
  "incumbent elected official" convicted of an offense may 
  be suspended. Since his campaign in December, Wu and his 
  KMT supporters have always claimed that the law doesn't 
  apply to a candidate running for an office, but only to 
  an incumbent convicted while in office.  Wu's lawyers 
  interpret the law to mean that a candidate who has been 
  convicted prior to taking office can still sit in the 
  newly elected office during the appeal process.  If a 
  conviction is upheld on appeal within the first two years 
  of that newly elected official's term in office, a by- 
  election would be held and, as one more appeal is left to 
  the official, he would be able to run in the by-election. 
  Winning the by-election would then place him firmly in 
  the post as he could not be removed from post for "the 
  same crime" even if the third appeal is a failure.  If 
  the conviction were to be upheld on appeal in the last 
  two years of that newly elected official's term in 
  office, then there would be a clear legal basis for 
  suspension from the post and the MOI would have the 
  authority to assign an acting magistrate to serve out the 
  term of office. 
 
  ¶5.  (U)  There will be a supplemental magistrate election 
  held on April 1 to elect a new Magistrate for Taitung. 
  Wu's ex-wife, Kuang Li-chen has registered with KMT in 
  order to obtain the nomination to run for the position. 
  For now, she is the only KMT member who has registered in 
  the primary.  So far, the only other candidate expressing 
  an interest in running is former Vice Magistrate Liu Chao- 
  hau (Independent), who also ran in the last election. 
  The DPP Taitung county Chairman Chang Shun-fu has stated 
  that if Liu runs, they will not nominate any other 
  candidate because Liu previously was a DPP member. 
 
TAIPEI 00000656  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
  ¶6.  (SBU)  Comment.  Allegations of politically motivated 
  abuse were commonly lodged by DPP candidates against the 
  KMT prior to DPP rule.  People in Taitung, which at its 
  core is a blue-leaning area, now feel that the DPP 
  administration government is manipulating the legal 
  system by exaggerating the law to keep a newly elected 
  KMT magistrate from his rightfully elected spot and to 
  refuse him his legal rights of appointing an acting 
  Magistrate until his appeal is settled.  Further, the 
  refusal of courts to entertain a legal challenge, when it 
  appears there may be a legitimate legal basis, no matter 
  how slim, for disputing the MOI suspension, adds fuel to 
  the charge by Wu's KMT supporters that the suspension was 
  politically motivated.  End comment. 
THIELE 
 
KEEGAN