In a democracy, citizens are responsible for making sure that officials do not fall prey to corruption and abuse their power.
by Wu Chih-Chung*
*A paper presented at the conference “Looking at the Development of Human Rights in Taiwan from the February 28 Incident and the White Terror to the Tai Ji Men Case,” hosted by the National Memorial Hall of February 28 and the Taiwan Association for Financial Criminal Law Study, Taipei, ROC, March 5, 2023.
On December 19, 1996, prosecutors and police officers raided Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy and then the Grand Master, Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, his wife, and several disciples, were detained. It is called the 1219 incident. 1219 is a completely fabricated case. Its aim was to politically purge groups that were not explicit loyal to the ruling party in the 1996 presidential elections. Prosecutor Hou Kuan-yen accused Dr. Hong of tax evasion and fraud, without investigation nor evidence. At the same time, Prosecutor Hou instigated the bloodthirsty media claiming that Dr. Hong could practice sorcery and raise goblins.
Although the first-degree, appeal, and Supreme Court decisions unanimously ruled that Dr. Hong was not guilty at all, the National Tax Bureau still issued an exorbitant tax bill based on the amounts fabricated by Prosecutor Hou, who claimed that Tai Ji Men functioned as a cram school. This was a completely wrong and self-contradictory tax bill because the government clearly stipulates that traditional qigong and martial arts cannot be taught in cram schools. 7,401 disciples who were interrogated also said that the monetary contributions they gave to Dr. Hong were gifts, to be classified as such according to the income tax law, and not the tuition fees of a cram school. However, Dr. Hong’s property was brutally taken away nonetheless.
Such an obvious false case has not been vindicated even after 27 years—why? In fact, the offending officials were able to obtain generous bonuses by fabricating false cases. Taiwan has a tax bonus regulatory system that has no legal basis, allowing the officials to receive about 20% of the over-estimated tax bills as bonuses. The bonus system originated from the horrific laws for reporting spies during the Martial Law period. Tens of thousands of innocent people were reported as “Communist spies,” then executed without trial. All their properties were confiscated, of which 30% was given to whistleblowers and other 30% to the officials who arrested the spies, as bonus. The Martial Law period ended in 1987, but the tax bonus system still induces officials to over-tax, which legalizes collective corruption.
Dr. Hong, Mrs. Hong, and several disciples were brutally tortured physically and mentally, they were deprived of their property, and their reputations were damaged. My own family was also tortured. My son was teased by his classmates who told him that he was a goblin, when he was only five years old. After hearing this, my wife cried bitterly while holding my son. Having been hurt so badly, I cannot forget nor forgive the officials who did it.
For more than twenty years, I have hated the offending officials so much that I have tried my best to find laws and regulations to punish them. But Dr. Hong asked me to love and to forgive rather than hate, and to keep the mind focused on conscience. For more than twenty years, I tried to find out who was behind the officials who fabricated 1219. I wanted to hold this person accountable for the 1219 case. Only recently did I find out that the person who should really be held accountable is nobody else but me, myself.
I and all the people of Taiwan are the owners of the country, the employers of the government, and the officials are our employees. Why did the officials abuse their power to illegally obtain a profit? It is because the owner of the country, the people, neglects to survey and discipline the officials that abuse their power. The ultimate responsibility lies with the people. The victims are also the people.
It has only been 37 years since Martial Law was lifted in Taiwan. However, the people is still accustomed to be ruled and does not know how to rule a country. Thus, Taiwan is still under the absolute power of bureaucracy, even tyranny, but not democracy.
I would like to thank Dr. Hong for advocating for human rights and conscience, love and peace for many years. From Dr. Hong I learned that people could be the rulers, not the ruled, if they can make use of the two UN human rights covenants, as well as the convention against corruption and the convention against torture. These conventions require the government to establish a check and balance mechanism to prevent officials from abusing their power. As Thomas Jefferson wrote, “Free government is founded on jealousy, and not on confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence which prescribes limited constitutions to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power.” Although the government of Taiwan has incorporated into its domestic law the Two Covenants on human rights and the Convention against Corruption, they are just implemented superficially. The Convention against torture has not been incorporated into domestic law, despite proposals dating back to 2018. Taiwanese citizens often suffer from violations of human rights, collective corruption, and torture, which means that some officials are still enjoying the undue power they had during the Martial Law period. For example, former Finance Minister Chang Sheng-Ford claimed in the Legislative Yuan that “The bonus is a must, otherwise the tax collectors might be corrupted.” His successor Sheu Yu-Yer said in the Legislative Yuan “Forget about human rights if you want taxation.” This concept has caused unjust and false cases to emerge one after another, harming the citizens.
I am so honored today to have the opportunity to thank Dr. René Wadlow in person, for his deep words at the 2001 World Citizens Assembly, which inspired me and millions of others. Let me quote Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous sayings: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” and “The greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”
I, and so do millions of Taiwanese, am unwilling to remain silent any longer. I would like to invite all the participants here today to encourage Taiwan’s citizens to exercise their civil rights, urge the government to complete the legislative process of the Convention against torture, and implement the three conventions thorough, so that the government cannot be negligent, the people can supervise the government, and the officials cannot be corrupted. It will thus become possible to rectify 1219, and similar false cases will not happen again.