Missing Presidential Office Case Files Must Be Investigated to the Bitter End

Missing Presidential Office Case Files Must Be Investigated to the Bitter End
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
March 31, 2011

As incredible as it may seem, over 36,000 Republic of China government files have sprouted wings and disappeared. Included are over 25,000 secret Ministry of Foreign Affairs files. What is even more outrageous, those responsibile for the disappearance of the documents were 17 highly-placed members of former President Chen Shui-bian's Presidential Office.

State documents are national assets, especially since the passage of the Archives Act. All official documents must be filed according to specified procedures. The Archives Act was promoted by the DPP. It was implemented after Ah-Bian assumed office. Prior to the first change in ruling parties, the Chen regime was particularly worried about one thing, the smooth transfer of power. A smooth transfer of power means the military must swear allegiance to the incoming administration. It means the outgoing administration must transfer all government documents to the incoming administration. This will enable successors to know what their predecessors did. This will enable later generations to either carry on or make improvements.

What state of mind would permit an individual responsible for state policy, to cavalierly dispose of documents and thumb his nose at the nation's laws? Just before the second change in ruling parties, Chiang Lian-fu, a member of the legislature, said Chen Shui-bian's Presidential Office had purchased a large number of document shredders and was preparing to shred official documents. Many treated his accusation as a joke. Most denounced it as absurd. They did so based on the assumption that the Head of State was someone who could be trusted.

Who knew that three years later, Chiang would be vindicated? During the Chen regime's eight years in power, vast numbers of documents disappeared from the Presidential Office. Incredibly, the fate of most documents sent to the Presidential Office remains unknown. Only 0.03% of all documents were archived. One cannot excuse Chen Shui-bian by arguing that he had never served as president. After all, he had served as Taipei Mayor. Surely he knew that the documents he approved or had accessed must be archived? Surely he didn't squirrel away official muncipal government documents in his private files?

Three lowly secretaries in the Presidential Office were able to investigate the matter and issue this astonishing report. DPP officials are accusing the Presidential Office of political persecution in advance of the 2012 presidential election. They say it is no wonder the Ma administration's efficiency has been so severely criticized, it took three years to discover that official documents were missing, DPP spokesman Lin Yu-chang said the Presidential Office logs included letters of invitation and private correspondence. Lin asked how could the Presidential Office generalize and mislead the public? But Lin's non sequiteurs merely prove that DPP officials cannot face the truth, that they did nothing while Chen Shui-bian perverted the law for eight long years.

After the Ma administration took office, the Presidential Office was criticized for streamlining itself so drastically that it could no longer bear comparison with the Chen regime. But three secretaries worked all year around for three years. They were able to uncover 100 missing documents. That certainly qualifies as efficiency. The Presidential Office has indeed sent and received many documents. But all documents were logged. They were inventoried on computer. They include large numbers of "secret and unrecorded" documents that had to be logged manually. But do letters of invitation really need to be "secret and unrecorded?" More absurd is that during the Chen regime, all documents addressed to the President, the Vice President, the Secretary General, and Deputy Secretary General were directly turned over to these government officials, in flagrant defiance of the nation's laws.

Stop making wild allegations about political persecution. The Presidential Office is not above the law. A head of state must comply with the nation's laws. Anyone guilty of misplacing, destroying, concealing, or leaking official documents must bear administrative and criminal responsibility. When the Special Investigation Unit was prosecuting the Chen family's corruption, and Chen was in the Taipei Detention Center, it seized 102 boxes. It discovered over 1,500 secret documents. This was a tiny fraction of what the Presidential Office found. The case has yet to be closed. How can the Ma administration refuse to follow up? Does anyone remember Chen Shen-hui, who was responsible for the disbursement of Presidential Office expenses during the Chen regime? The Chen family was busy of embezzling funds. She on the other hand, received a meager salary. Yet she wound up behind bars. How many more Chen Shen-huis does the DPP intend to sacrifice?

The Democratic Progressive Party hopes to return to power after the 2012 presidential campaign. If the DPP were to return to power, would it overlook the misplacing or even destruction of large numbers of documents by highly placed officials within the Ma Ying-jeou administration? The rule of law makes no distinctions between Blue and Green. Even if the DPP were willing to forgive and forget, the public would not. The Ma administration is often criticized for its timidity. But a nation's laws ought to be obeyed. Eight years Chen regime misrule left the nation in chaos. The public wants a president and a government that adheres to the rule of law. Who is the DPP to say no? Are we to understand that if it returns to power, the DPP would repeat the mistakes of the Chen regime?

A year after Chen Shui-bian took office, he published his "Maiden Voyage of the Century." He revealed the secrets behind the transfer of power. He referred to the first change in ruling parties as an "verbal transfer," "a transfer of conscience," as opposed to a "systemic transfer," or "inventory transfer." he said many important events lacked even minutes of the meeting, and left him in a cold sweat. That year, he decided to establish a system for future transfers of political power. Who knew that in his hands a "verbal transfer" would suddenly become a "fraudulent transfer."

For the psst five years, the Chen family corruption scandal has been making waves. For the public, it has been a terrible nightmare. Our cherished democracy has produced a president with total disregard for the rule of law. The public is thoroughly fed up. But the the lost Presidential Office files are more than a link in the Chen family corruption scandal chain. It must be investigated to the bitter end. Ruling party change on Taiwan has become the norm. If the public on Taiwan wants to be the envy of the world, it must perfect its democracy. The first step must be strict oversight of those in power, ensuring that they cannot circumvent the law, This applies to the outgoing president, the current president, and to all future presidential candidates.

總統府檔案佚失案 必須追究到底
2011-03-31 中國時報

不可思議！中華民國政府公文竟有三萬六千多件公文不翼而飛，其中包括二萬五千多件外交祕抄；更離譜的是，帶頭讓這些公文人間蒸發的，竟是前總統陳水扁在內的十七位總統府相關高層。

國家公文屬國家資產，特別在檔案法立法後，所有公事文件都有列檔的程序，檔案法還是民進黨力推的法案，在扁政府執政後公布實施。第一次政黨輪替前，扁政府最介意的就是政權是否順利轉移，政權轉移除了軍隊宣示效忠，最重要的，當然是所有國家文書全面移交，讓後繼者得知前人所為何事，後人如何繼續或改進。

到底是什麼心態，讓執掌國家大政的人，膽敢將公文隨意處置，無視國家法治？二次政黨輪替前，立委江連福言之鑿鑿指稱總統府大量採購碎紙機，要銷毀國家公文，聞者引為笑談，多半還斥無稽，那是出於對國家元首基本的信賴。

沒想到，三年多後，證實扁政府八年執政，府內確有為數龐大的公文佚失，送進總統辦公室的公文，竟多數流向不明，歸檔率僅百分之零點零三，不要說陳水扁沒當過總統，他總當過台北市長，總知道市長批閱或調閱過的公文要歸檔，總不會私藏市府公文吧？

總統府靠三個小祕書逐一清查比對，完成這份驚人的調查報告，民進黨人痛批總統府是為了二○一二年總統大選進行的政治清算、政治迫害；質疑馬政府查三年才查出公文遺失，難怪行政效能遭到嚴厲批評，民進黨發言人林右昌並指總統府外收發登錄的文件包括邀請信、首長私函，豈可一概而論，誤導大眾；這些莫名其妙的說法，只凸顯民進黨人無法正視扁執政八年枉法真相的軟弱。

馬政府就任後，總統府用人精簡到被批評與扁政府的總統府不可同日而語，三個祕書就算全年無休，三年每天得抓到一百件佚失公文，這個效率夠高了。總統府外收發的文件確實很多，所有文件都經過文號登錄，電腦清查之外，還有更龐大的「密不錄由」文件，必須靠人工比對，請問：邀請信需要「密不錄由」嗎？更荒唐的是，扁政府時代凡公文標明給總統、副總統、與正副祕書長者，均跳過收發直送五首長，完全無視國家體制。

不要再扯什麼政治清算、政治迫害，總統府不是法外特區，即令是國家元首，都得遵守國家法令，遑論公務員遺失或故意銷毀、藏匿、洩漏公文，都是要負行政和刑事責任的，特偵組辦扁家弊案時，已經從扁於北所的舍房內查扣一百零二箱，超過一千五百件以上機密文件，這只是總統府這次清查的零頭都不到，此案還沒偵結，馬政府能不追究嗎？還記得扁政府時代的總統府出納陳鎮慧嗎？扁家Ａ錢，她拿微薄的薪資卻受牢獄之災，吃盡苦頭，民進黨人還要犧牲幾個陳鎮慧？

民進黨志在二○一二總統大選重返執政，請問：如果民進黨果真重新執政，能容忍馬英九總統以降的總統府高官，把大量公文佚失、甚或銷毀嗎？國家法治不分藍綠，就算民進黨可容忍，人民也容不了馬英九胡搞。馬政府常被批評行事謹小慎微，從遵守國家法令規章的角度看，經過扁政府八年在國家體制上的失序，人民要求一個嚴守法治的總統和政府，民進黨能說「不」嗎？難道再執政，民進黨政府還要重蹈扁政府的覆轍嗎？

陳水扁上任一年多，就出版《世紀首航》，揭露政權移交的祕辛，書中他直指首次政權輪替，是「口頭移交」、「良心移交」，而非「制度移交」、「清冊移交」，很多重要的事「連一份會議紀錄」都沒有，讓他捏把冷汗。當年，他還立志要於政權再輪替時，建立制度。沒想到，口頭移交到了他手裡，竟成了「空頭移交」！

五年多了，扁家弊案依舊纏繞不休，對全民而言，無異是一場最大的夢魘，我們最珍視的民主竟產生出這麼一個無視法治的總統，真是受夠了。但是，總統府檔案佚失案，不能只視為扁案的一環，非追究到底不可，因為台灣政黨輪替勢成民主常態，台灣要以民主傲視全球，就得讓我們的民主臻於至善，第一步就得嚴格監督權力者沒有濫權枉法的空間，不論卸任總統、現任總統、或者是未來可能的總統人選。