Taiwan presidential hopeful on trial in, outside court

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Taipei, Apr 1: He goes on trial for corruption on Tuesday and Ma Ying-jeou's behaviour both inside and outside court could determine whether he remains front-runner to become Taiwan's next president.

Ma, a charismatic figure with good looks and a hitherto clean image, will enter uncharted territory when he appears in court to face charges of misappropriating T.2 million (339,000 dollar) of funds under his control while he was mayor of Taipei.

The trial is taking place in the wider public domain too, as Taiwan voters take in what is likely to be one of the most widely watched cases in recent memory.

''The way he appears in court will be very important to his image,'' said Lo Chih-cheng, chairman of the political science department at Soochow University. ''In the past his image was very clean, but as a result of showing up in court his image can only be hurt.'' Ma was chairman of the main opposition Nationalist Party (KMT) when a government prosecutor filed charges against him in February alleging improper use of government funds.

He immediately embarked on a damage-control campaign, declaring his innocence, resigning as KMT chairman and announcing his candidacy for president in one fell swoop.

His main rival for the KMT nomination is Wang Jin-pyng, the speaker of parliament. Wang himself is seeking to drum up support with a planned high-profile visit to China including a potential meeting with President Hu Jintao.

Local media said the visit was likely to take place this month. A Wang spokesman confirmed the trip was in the works, but said dates and an agenda had yet to be finalised.

Beijing insists the democratic island remains a part of China and, given a choice between Taiwan's political groupings, it backs the KMT, which once ruled the entire mainland and remains committed to eventual reunification. Victory for the KMT candidate in the next presidential election, tentatively set for March 2008, could augur a thaw in cross-Strait relations.

The ruling pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party has a much icier relationship with China. Its own image has been tarnished over the last year by a series of scandals surrounding President Chen Shui-bian and his aides and family.

In the most high profile of those, Chen's wife, Wu Shu-chen, is currently on trial for charges similar to those Ma faces.

Image issues aside, Ma's other main challenge will be balancing the demands of his trial, which could yield a verdict before the election, with the commitments of a busy campaign.

''There's the negative issue, but more important is, he'll have to allocate his time to the court case,'' Lo said.

Reuters

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