Chen Shui-bian TalkAsia interview (01-2007) Part 1/3

First airing on Saturday, January 27, 2007, this TalkAsia interview with Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian showed his and the people of Taiwan's side of a story which is usually covered by the international media from Beijing's perspective.

President Chen spoke in Mandarin throughout (think the pan-blues will applaud?), and you can hear a good bit of the original audio if you listen carefully, but there is a voice throughout giving a mostly-accurate English-language translation.

Who are the real "troublemakers"? Both China and the pan-blue opposition in Taiwan who have clearly ruled out giving the people of Taiwan a say in their own future.

See the intro to the interview here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH6Phkpe2I4

Part 2/3 is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGUaLB7tQp0

Part 3/3 is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQzRCIXsJ1Y

More info:
http://taiwanmatters.blogspot.com/2007/01/chen-ma-taiwan-identity-and-2008.html
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/01/28/2003346649
http://taiwanmatters.blogspot.com/2007/01/cnn-airs-interview-with-taiwans.html

Dan Bloom points out CNN's gaffes:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/02/04/2003347650

The official CNN transcript of the interview:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/01/29/talkasia.chen.script/index.html

Find more of jjohny's comments here:
http://tinyurl.com/yno4sx

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Taiwan
• 台灣
• Chen_Shui-bian
• 陳水扁
• CNN
• TalkAsia
• Anjali_Rao

[dankaren95]

No matter what he did during his presidency, he cannot be enprisoned as it brings shame and dishonor to the nation. Apparently, Taiwan is blinded by this concept due to political vengeance that may be implicated by China. What a shame! Soon or later, all the high-tech weapons we sold to Taiwan will be in China's procession.

[TimMaddog]

@dankaren95 I'm not sure I understand. There's nothing in the law that says a former president can't be imprisoned. The problem here is that the Chinese KMT government has a political vendetta against Chen, and they're carrying it out by using their remaining control of the judiciary.

[dankaren95]

@TimMaddog A former president can be enprisoned, but not for crimes he did while he was president. For honor sake, the current president should pardon him, eg. Ford pardoned Nixon in the 70's, but this doesn't happen in Taiwan b/c of pressure by China and b/c of political vengeance. It doesn't look right for a president to be enprisoned, especially for something in did during his presidency. We don't do that here in the US as an impeachement brings enough shame to the president.

[TimMaddog]

@dankaren95 That is not correct. The presidency doesn't excuse a person from following the law. They couldn't put Chen on trial while he was president. Perhaps that's what you're thinking of. Either way, none of this has any bearing on whether Chen is innocent or guilty.

[dankaren95]

@TimMaddog I thought I express myself unequivocally clear. I never said the president was above the law. What I said was the current president should pardon the former president for his wrong-doings during his presidency for sake of honor of the country, whether he was guilty or not. Again, political vengeance and China pressure brought shame to Taiwan as a result of Chen's enprisonment.

[TimMaddog]

@dankaren95 Your first (when you said "cannot") and second comments ("but not for crimes he did while he was president") were not as "unequivocally clear" as you think they were, but I think I understand you better this time.

[TimMaddog]

你認為阿扁應該說「原住民」其中的哪一個語言？ 你樓上寫得就是沒腦無邏輯的廢話！

[hddz001]

扁既然想独立，为什么还说普通话，我觉得他应该去说原住民语言。­

[peaceLUCK777]

President Chen is a unique and brave man. He could have done better if only KMT's delegates are willing to co-operate during his term. They opposed to anything he proposes, since KMT has more seats, by democracy KMT gets its way. However, the brave thing is he is determined to have Taiwan's people to have better lives, it is just sad because he was presidenting at the wrong time when the world's economy is dropping. The democracy and human rights he demonstrated for his people is amazing.

[architecttw]

I do believe that the taiwan presiden Chen Shui Bian is a very determined and strong leader ! just the right man for their country , He already survived a lot of etat-de coupe to topple his administration and he is still in control of everything ... what a great leader , i really admire his capabilities for doing his job ! Hurray Abian !