The Arrest of Ko Wen-je: Taiwan’s Democracy at stake, or not?
Ivan Ng is a first-year Law student. He is interested in delving into the political systems around the world and comparing their efficiency of governance. (ivanng001002@gmail.com, www.linkedin.com/in/ivannghk)
On the 5th of September, Ko Wen-je, the chairman of Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), the third largest political party in Taiwan, was arrested due to corruption allegations during his term as the mayor of Taipei from 2014 to 2022. The arrest has brought forward extensive discussions about the potential decline of Taiwan’s democracy. Certainly when the ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), embarked on an unprecedented 3rd leadership term earlier this year.
But, who is Ko Wen-je? What happened in September? What’s the future of Taiwan’s democracy? Or, what's the future of Taiwan?
Who is Ko Wen-je?
Ko Wen-je has been the chairman of the TPP since its formation in 2019. Debuting in Taiwan politics in 2014, Ko was the first elected mayor of Taipei not from the DPP or Kuomintang (KMT, the largest opposition party in Taiwan). Prior to Ko’s term, Taiwanese politics, especially the position of Taipei mayor, had been dominated by the DPP and KMT. In 2024, following his 2 mayoral terms, Ko represented the TPP to participate in the Taiwan leadership race in January 2024 (or the Presidential election, as referred to by the Taiwanese media). Earning over 3.6 million votes, he successfully received more than 26% of the total votes.[1] Despite losing the leadership race, Ko and his party undoubtedly emerged as a significant third power and challenged Taiwan’s norm of a two-party system. Its performance in the Legislative Yuan (the legislative body) election, which was held together with the leadership race proved this. Earning 8 out of 113 seats in the Yuan, the TPP became the critical minority party to determine if any bill was to be passed or struck down, as neither DPP (51 seats) nor KMT (52 seats) won the majority seats (57 seats).
With his supporters composed mainly of young people unsatisfied with the DPP & KMT, Ko has labelled himself an “uncorrupted, diligent, people-loving, and patriotic” politician.[2] He built an image for himself that countered the previous ‘corrupt’ governments (KMT governments from 1996-2000 & 2008-2016; DPP governments from 2000-2008 & 2016 till now). Examples of ‘corrupt’ governance, as reiterated by TPP, include the case of the National Security secret account (KMT 2011), Lin Yishi (KMT 2013), smuggling cigarettes (2019), imported Brazilian eggs (DPP 2023) etc.[3] These scandals have frustrated many in Taiwan regarding the level of corruption within the governments and encouraged them to support non-DPP and -KMT candidates. Mr. Li, a first-time voter in the 2024 leadership race, shared in an interview the day before the election day that he supported Ko, describing the TPP as an “uncorrupted and diligent” party.[4] This underscored Ko’s successful tactic of portraying his image as a clean, conscientious and virtuous leader.
What happened in September?
However, the uncorrupted image was tarnished this summer. On the 5th of September, Ko was arrested for embezzlement during his mayoral term, involving 5 major fraud cases. In fact, before Ko’s arrest, the TPP had already been suspected of nepotistic practices, including discrepancies regarding the sources of his political donations during the leadership race in 2024. Public dissent has brought about Ko’s “temporary leave (as the party’s chairman) for 3 months”.[5] Additionally, 2 months before the arrest, the only other Taiwanese mayor from TPP, Ann Kao, was convicted of fraudulently claiming assistant fees and sentenced for 7 years and 4 months.[6] A series of sleazy scandals have undoubtedly tarnished the people’s support for the TPP, resulting in a significant drop in its poll rate of more than 15% compared to March this year.
The Future of Taiwan’s Opposition and Democracy
Although supporters of the TPP were disappointed, many were more concerned over the influence that the governing DPP could wield over the judiciary. The public, especially supporters of the TPP, cast concerns over the constantly changing decisions made by the Taipei District Court on Ko’s case, doubting the neutrality of the courts in dealing with such highly political matters.[7] Their primary concern lies on the court’s decision to release Ko from custody on the 2nd of September with no bail, while issuing a retrial order on the 4th of September after the appeal from the prosecution, with the facts and evidence submitted to the court unchanged.
The internet fears the spread of a ‘green terror’ - named after the DPP’s party colour - over its ever-growing power within the judiciary.[8] Zhu Lilun, leader of the largest opposition party KMT, has commented on the recent case and insinuated a DPP democratic dictatorship, emphasising how “the judiciary must not become a whip wielded by a dictatorship”.[9]
Indeed, criticisms of the DPP’s dictatorial tendencies have grown over the years, especially since the DPP started its third term of governance in May this year. This is the first time in Taiwanese democratic history that a political party has maintained its political power for more than 2 terms. The party, despite its track record in winning elections, is often criticised for its handling of opposition. In 2020, during DPP’s governance, the National Communications Commission rejected the request of Chung T'ien Television, a pro-KMT media channel, to renew its licence. The Commission explained its decision with reasons such as the TV channel failed to “properly use its self-disciplinary mechanism”, which resulted in company shareholders’ “inappropriate intervention” in the news production, sparking vigorous public debate on the government’s limitation on press freedom. [10] Moreover, from 2022 to 2023, the then-incumbent leader of Taiwan from DPP, Tsai Ing-wen, did not face the media for 745 days, adding to concerns over the government’s accountability and transparency.
Ko’s arrest is also seen to be beneficial to the DPP governance, as it helps further limit the voice of opposition in Taiwan. Lai Ching-te, the current DPP chairman and leader of Taiwan, has been labelling himself as a “pragmatic Taiwan independentist”; that is, he advocates for a separate country of Taiwan, rather than one with mainland China. According to the Election Study Centre of the National Chengchi University, only 3.8% of Taiwanese people support his idea of a fully independent and separate country of Taiwan in the near future. In comparison, nearly 90% of Taiwanese prefer to maintain the status quo of the Taiwan Strait.[11] Some have put Ko’s arrest as an “obvious political persecution” from Lai, criticising Lai for “using national machinery [the judiciary]” to suppress the popular view of maintaining the status quo of the Taiwan Strait in the long run, an idea which Ko supported.[12] It is also suggested that Lai, by using the arrest of Ko as a bargaining chip, could pressure the 8 TPP members in the Legislative Yuan to vote in favour of the bill introduced by his government. Or, in the long term, by oppressing Ko and TPP, DPP could possibly attract some of the TPP supporters, as they are primarily young people supporting progressive values such as gender equality and social justices. These values align more with the DPP's progressive image than the conservative KMT.
While some might have seen the arrest as the end of the third-party status quo in Taiwan, as said, there are still 8 TPP members in the Legislative Yuan until 2028. More time is required to assess the long-term influence of this series of scandals on Ko and the party. The performance of the TPP in the 2026 Nine-in-one local election, the 2028 leadership race and the Legislative Yuan election is crucial, as they may alter how future governance will be monitored, as well as the future political landscape.
The Future of Taiwan?
Although the legal proceedings of Ko’s fraud charges are still ongoing, it is undeniable that the event has greatly weakened a 3rd power in Taiwanese politics. This may heighten tensions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, as Lai, the independentist leader, is now less restricted by the opposition. Indeed, Lai, in his speech on the 10th of October, objected to mainland China’s “theory of home country” (that Taiwan is part of China), explicitly stating that there is no affiliated relationship between Taiwan and mainland China.[13] Earlier in September, Lai also challenged mainland China’s emphasis on “territorial integrity”, which serves as a basis for mainland China’s reasons to unify with Taiwan and realise the “great mission of unifying the country”.[14] Referencing Russia’s takeover of vast parts of Chinese territory using the Treaty of Aigun in the 19th century and the fact that mainland China has never wanted to take those territories back, Lai argued that unification of China was never the main purpose of the Beijing government. He said, “he main purpose of [mainland] China’s action is to overturn the established rule-based world order”, sparking debates and controversies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.[15]
With its repression of Ko and the TPP, it seems that the DPP is embracing a more tyrannical era of ruling. Manifesting hostility against mainland China to unify supporters has become its strongest weapon. In the future, at least under the rule of DPP, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are likely to usher in more conflicts. It is difficult to know what the future of Taiwan’s democracy holds. Perhaps, only time will tell.◾
Works cited:
[1] Hart, B. et al. (2024) Taiwan’s 2024 elections: Results and implications, CSIS. Available at: https://www.csis.org/analysis/taiwans-2024-elections-results-and-implications (Accessed: 31 October 2024).
[2] Li, Y. (2023) Joining the2024 Presidential election! Ko Wen-je called for ‘Integrity, diligence, love for the people, and love for the country’[選2024總統！柯文哲喊「清廉、勤政、愛民、愛鄉土」], Yahoo! News. Available at: https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E9%81%B82024%E7%B8%BD%E7%B5%B1-%E6%9F%AF%E6%96%87%E5%93%B2%E5%96%8A-%E6%B8%85%E5%BB%89-%E5%8B%A4%E6%94%BF-%E6%84%9B%E6%B0%91-135111324.html (Accessed: 31 October 2024).
[3] A summary of the DPP’s corruption incidents. Will Lai Qingde be elected in the 2024 presidential election? [民進黨貪污事件總整理，2024總統大選確定還要選賴清德嗎？] (2023) balala. Available at: https://vocus.cc/article/65695a7dfd8978000174b2e9 (Accessed: 31 October 2024).
[4] China Times (2024) YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wH_ZFcUF8ic (Accessed: 31 October 2024).
[5] Huang, P., Chen, B. and Lin, Z. (2024) Ko Wen-je led the Taiwan People’s Party to apologize, taking a leave of absence for 3 months as the party chairman for further investigation [柯文哲率民眾黨公職鞠躬致歉 請假3個月暫離黨主席自請調查], PTS News. Available at: https://news.pts.org.tw/article/712368 (Accessed: 31 October 2024).
[6] Qu, Y. (2024) Ann Kao was convicted on the same day as the prosecutor was promoted. Wang Hongwei suspected: political reward [高虹安定罪同日檢察官升官 王鴻薇疑：政治獎勵], 聯合新聞網. Available at: https://udn.com/news/story/6656/8122386 (Accessed: 31 October 2024).
[7] BBC (2024c) The case of Ko Wen-je: The same court released and then arrested three days apart. Understand the key points behind the reversal of the verdict. [柯文哲案：同一法院相隔三日先放再捉，看懂判決大反轉背後的關鍵點], BBC News Chinese. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-69313697 (Accessed: 31 October 2024).
[8] Zhou, Y. (2024) The Demonic Mirror of Ko’s case, The New Green Terror Appears [柯案照妖鏡 新綠色恐怖現形], Yahoo! News. Available at: https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E6%9F%AF%E6%A1%88%E7%85%A7%E5%A6%96%E9%8F%A1-%E6%96%B0%E7%B6%A0%E8%89%B2%E6%81%90%E6%80%96%E7%8F%BE%E5%BD%A2-201000550.html (Accessed: 31 October 2024).
[9] Ko’s corruption scandal: Zhu Lilun reminded Lai Ching-te: Judiciary must not become a whip wielded by a dictator [柯文哲陷弊案 朱立倫提醒賴清德：司法不可變成獨裁者揮舞的鞭] (2024) Liberty Times Online. Available at: https://video.ltn.com.tw/article/BLglc_K_PVI/PLI7xntdRxhw3f4pUhXV0L2ve5j1Ztthf_ (Accessed: 31 October 2024).
