洛杉機時報：扁案判決,很難讓人相信這裡面沒有政治動機

洛杉磯時報
Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian gets life in prison for corruption

(以上略)

From the outset, the case was high political drama, with Chen playing the martyr, spending two weeks on a hunger strike and publicly accusing his successor, Ma Ying-jeou, of putting him in jail "as a sacrifice to appease China."

首先,這個案件就充滿政治戲劇, 陳進行了兩個禮拜的絕食並指控他的對手馬英九用他來當做用以親近中國的祭品.

Bonnie S. Glaser, an expert in Taiwan's politics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, believes that the life sentence will heighten political turmoil on the island.

Bonnie S. Glaser, 華盛頓戰略與國際關係中心的台灣政治專家, 指出 這個無期徒刑判決將會增高島內的的政治動盪

"It is a quite a harsh sentence. . . . It is going to be hard for people to say that it was not politically motivated, and that could have profound political implications," said Glaser.

他並認為這是一個非常嚴苛的判決, 很難讓人相信這裡面沒有政治動機, 相反地, 它將產生深遠的政治影響.

"There was no due process at all," said Shane Lee, a political science professor at Chang Jung Christian University in southern Taiwan.

Shane Lee, 長榮大學的政治系教授認為 本案完全沒有遵守程序正義.

Lee said he believed the current government of President Ma was anxious about Chen's continuing political influence.

"Of course he still has influence. . . . There is a saying, if you want to kill the snake, you have to kill the head."

他認為 馬政府之前對於陳水扁的政治影響力感到焦慮. 他當然還有影響力, 俗話說, 殺蛇必須殺牠的頭.

Although Chen's Democratic Progressive Party was trounced in elections last year, the party still has strong support and has at times tried to sabotage Taiwan's rapprochement with Beijing, most recently inviting the Dalai Lama for a visit. The exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, reviled as a separatist by Beijing, went to comfort victims of last month's Typhoon Morakot.

雖然陳的民進黨在去年的選舉中受到重挫, 但還是擁有眾多的支持者而且一直嘗試阻擾馬政府的親中政策, 最近的一個例子就是邀請被中國視為叛亂份子的西藏精神領袖達賴喇嘛來台撫慰莫拉克颱風的受災民眾.