I've been quite critical of the US media's low-quality writing on Taiwan, but I have to admit that this recent article on Chen's political crises out of the Washington Post isn't too bad, all things considered. Singled out for praise:

The sudden storm of scandal and accusations of bumbling leadership raised questions about what the unpredictable Chen might do to regain balance. Some analysts suggested he would become more prudent, scaling back efforts to push this self-ruled island toward formal independence. But others predicted a bold move to revive support among the many Taiwanese who believe that their homeland should be independent in law as well as fact despite China's resolve to absorb it into the mainland.

Look at that verb in the last sentence describing China's dream of annexing Taiwan. Not "retake" or "unify" but "absorb" -- a fairly accurate rendering of reality, there. Progress! The article does supply the usual claims without context:

Su Chi, a Nationalist member of the Legislative Yuan, suggested that Chen might try to radically alter the Taiwanese constitution to emphasize independence, then submit his proposal to a referendum in hopes of rallying public support on the nationalism issue, as he did in winning election in 2000 and 2004.

China and the United States have both warned against such a course, reminding Chen that he has repeatedly promised not to substantially change the constitution. In a recent interview, Chen pledged to follow legal procedure in changing the constitution, which requires him to submit any amendments to the legislature, where Nationalists hold a thin majority. But Su warned that Chen, a lawyer known for political sleight of hand, might find a way to circumvent that pledge despite the warnings from Beijing and Washington.

The idea that Chen might unilaterally alter the Constitution is strictly a Chinese Nationalist bogeyman, since the process for amending the Constitution is so cumbersome and complex, and requires support in the legislature that Chen does not have, that it will simply never happen. There's simply no way Chen can alter the Constitution. It is sad that Ed Cody, the writer of this article, reproduced Su's claims without any context (in fact it is sad that they are reproduced at all). He also does not give any context to Chiu Yi's claims, which he describes as if Chiu Yi were something other than a Blue hooligan:

Chiu Yi, a Nationalist legislator who brought many of the allegations against Chen's family, predicted others will follow, suggesting Chen could be further weakened in the weeks and months to come. In particular, he charged, Chen's wife can be linked to suspicious and perhaps illegal dealings with several large holding companies.

"If I were Chen Shui-bian, with all that's coming out, I would step down," said Chiu, a Cornell-trained economist.

Chiu was invited to Peking University last week to speak to students on his campaign against Chen, who is widely despised in China. But after he told Beijing-based reporters that Taiwan's democracy and free press were essential in allowing him to air his charges, officials from the Chinese government's Taiwan Affairs Office told him he could not make the speech.

I'll bet you didn't know that Chiu Yi, who incited a riot on election night 2004 and trashed a government building, and who should be in jail, was a Cornell-trained economist. Probably because it isn't true; Chiu Yi got his Ph.D at NTU and did a postdoc at Cornell. Jason at Wandering to Tamshui compiled a wonderful list of Chui Yi's shenanigans:

The Evidence: During the pan-Blue protests following their election upset, Chiu kept himself busy on election night by instigating pan-Blue rioters to ram a truck into the Kaohsiung District Court on March 20. Chiu defended himself against the charges, saying "The prosecutors decided to indict me before they had really talked to any witnesses. People who were there with me all knew that I didn't do whatever it was they said I did." Prosecutors, however, had evidence suggesting otherwise, including a video clearly showing Chiu's misbehavior, and charged him with violating the Parade and Assembly Law.

Chiu has made a name for himself by suing others for reportedly secretly filming him sex up his old lady, slamming the pan-blue alliance's legal team for its handling of the post-election lawsuits, suing DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun for defamation, and publicly fighting with ex-Premier Frank Hsieh over whether Hsieh had called First Lady Wu Shu-chen "an empress" over the phone. Most recently, Chiu has made headlines for ditching the PFP to return to the KMT (purportedly to buy win more votes in the year-end mayoral election), and just last night was arrested following an appearance on a popular talk show for failing to show up in court to face charges related to his performance on election night 2004.

Chiu Yi, whose arrest required 200 policeman, is about as much a supporter of democracy and rule of law as I am a supporter of China's planned annexation of Taiwan. Also decontextualized was this comment from Lin Cho-shui, who has been putting out a steady stream of anti-Chen utterances:

"This is very serious," said Lin Cho-shui, a Legislative Yuan member from Chen's party and a firm believer in Taiwanese independence. "He can't be an effective leader anymore. His policies have not inspired a lot of confidence. If it were just his family members' problems, it would not be so serious, but there also have been political problems, particularly relations with the United States."

Still, Cody's correct presentation of China's territorial expansionism is a step in the right direction. I was also delighted that he pointed out that the allegations of financial corruption on the First Lady's part were rumors, although his presentation still gave them entirely too much credence. He also noted that the US has promised to defend Taiwan without claiming that the US was bound by law to do so, another uncommon move in the western media, where far too many writers think the US is obliged by the Taiwan Relations Act to come to Taiwan's aid. A solid "B" for this effort. Hopefully next time there will be a little more context for some of the characters quoted.

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