華郵：馬啟動監聽的始作俑者/ 馬英九與國民黨受醜聞大困:Taiwan’s president, ruling party hit by scandal, rifts, anger over wiretapping

  華郵：馬啟動監聽的始作俑者

政治醜聞恐讓藍營分裂
〔編 譯詹立群／綜合報導〕馬英九「開鍘」後，王金平假處分「反攻」，引動藍營內訌加劇，美國華盛頓郵報十二日以「醜聞、分裂及對竊聽的憤怒，衝擊台灣總統與執 政黨」為標題，報導與王金平友好的在野黨將監聽事件比喻為「台版水門案」，並稱這起持續擴大的政治醜聞恐威脅國民黨走向分裂，挫敗與中國建立更緊密經濟關 係的努力。
此外，馬英九的人氣新低點也引起國際媒體關注，華郵以「歷任總統中最低的民調數據之一」來形容，法新社則說是「前所未有的低點」。
藍委：我們被監視了！
華郵報導，對立法委員手機監聽引發政治人物的不安與疑猜，連同黨黨員都對記者說，「現在不是談話的安全時間，我們被監視了」，而該黨黨主席就是啟動監聽的始作俑者。
華 郵認為，台灣法務部長下台、資深立法院院長被同黨所逐，他們的「落馬」恐讓原本已經不受歡迎的馬政府更「虛弱」，也提振了對中國不像國民黨那麼友好的在野 黨的聲勢。在馬的執政下，台灣與中國的關係達到數十年來最平靜；但馬仍備受輿論抨擊，並獲得在所有台灣歷任總統中最低的民調數據之一，最近支持率只有十 一％。
華郵說，馬政府的批評者認為，為了滿足馬英九想要驅逐王金平的政治慾望，當局竟利用監聽，這種做法已經違憲。在經濟不振下，馬政府的支持度遭嚴重侵蝕，法務部長已是今年第五位馬政府下台官員，其他包括兩位國防部長以及行政院長。
外媒：馬民調空前新低
華郵認為，鍘了在議事堂上舉足輕重的王金平，反而可能造成更多馬政策目標的「絆腳石」，包括取得立法院同意與中國簽訂服貿協議。反對服貿協議的人認為不應該在經濟上過度依賴中國。由於王金平與在野黨的關係良好，在野黨把這起監聽醜聞稱做台灣的水門案。
法新社報導指出，馬英九的支持度下降到史無前例的低點，強調這項由ＴＶＢＳ所做民調顯示，鍘王事件僅有十七％的民眾支持國民黨，不支持者則多達五十五％。

 

 

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/taiwans-president-ruling-party-hit-by-scandal-rifts-anger-over-wiretapping/2013/09/12/355ed3a8-1bb8-11e3-8685-5021e0c41964_story.html

 

Taiwan’s president, ruling party hit by scandal, rifts, anger over wiretapping

By William Wan, E-mail the writer

BEIJING — A widening political scandal is threatening to split Taiwan’s ruling party and set back efforts to build closer economic ties with China.

Recent allegations of influence peddling by Taiwanese politicians, driven in part by investigators’ wiretaps of one lawmaker’s cellphone conversations, have stirred fear and paranoia among some political leaders.

“I’m sorry. It’s not safe to talk right now. We are being monitored,” said a political adviser within the Nationalist Party, whose leaders have both driven the investigation and been the ones most damaged by it.

Taiwan’s justice minister has been forced out, and its high-
profile legislative speaker has been expelled by his party.
The fallout could have sweeping consequences for Taiwanese politics, weakening the already unpopular administration of President Ma Ying-jeou and giving a boost to the opposition party, which is much less friendly toward mainland China.

The dominoes began falling when Taiwan’s high court overturned lawmaker Ker Chien-ming’s guilty verdict on embezzlement charges.

A special investigative unit within the Taiwanese Justice Department subsequently wiretapped Ker’s cellphone, and, according to prosecutors, recorded conversations in which legislative speaker Wang Jin-pyng and Justice Minister Tseng Yung-fu agreed to help Ker ensure that the overturned ruling stuck.
Both Wang and Tseng have denied the charges of meddling, but Tseng has since stepped down, and Wang’s party membership was revoked Wednesday. Wang has vowed to fight his expulsion to keep his legislative position.
At the heart of the growing rift is a long-simmering rivalry within the Nationalist Party between Ma, its chairman, and Wang, a party heavyweight who has held the speakership since 1999. Their rivalry dates to 2005, when both competed to lead the Nationalist Party, also called the Kuomintang. They butted heads again in 2008, competing for their party’s presidential nomination.
This week, Ma called Wang’s alleged meddling in the court case “the most serious infringement in the history of Taiwan’s judiciary.”
Under Ma, Taiwan’s often-fractious relationship with China has hit its calmest point in decades. But Ma has taken a beating in opinion polls and has one of the lowest approval ratings among Taiwanese president. One recent poll has his rating at 11 percent.
The use of wiretapping has angered critics, who say the administration overstepped the constitution to pursue Ma’s politically motivated desire to oust Wang.
Ma’s party has also seen serious erosion in public support as the economy has struggled. And the justice minister’s ouster is at least the fifth cabinet-level resignation this year. The others included a defense minister who left over criticism of an army trainee’s death, a replacement defense minister who left over plagiarism and a premier who resigned partly over the economy.
The expulsion of Wang, who held significant sway in the parliament, could create further roadblocks for Ma’s policy goals, including getting approval for a service-trade agreement with China. Some in Taiwan have opposed the agreement over fears that the island is already too economically tied to the mainland. Wang also had good ties with Taiwan’s opposition party, which has criticized Ma for his handling of the investigation and referred to the wiretapping scandal as “Taiwan’s Watergate.”

Liu Liu contributed to this report.