Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: Ko Wen-je/Facebook
TAIPEI MAYOR KO WEN-JE has been arrested, following weeks of anticipation about whether an arrest was imminent.
Ko and the TPP have faced a number of scandals in the preceding weeks, but it was primarily allegations of corruption regarding Ko’s involvement in the Core Pacific City Mall project that led to the arrest. At the same time, prosecutors have stated that they believe it is possible that financial irregularities faced by the TPP in its campaign finances are linked to the Core Pacific City Mall project.
On Friday morning, police searched Ko’s home. This took place after KMT city councilor Angela Ying was arrested by police, with Ying suspected to have served as an intermediary between Ko and the Core Pacific Group, whose chair Sheen Ching-jing was also detained. Sheen is accused of bribing Ying. Ying, in particular, has attracted significant negative press in connection with the scandal, over past incidents in which she called for the eviction of homeless in Taipei’s Mongka Park by throwing ice water at them, and regarding the organized crime background of her partner, a business magnate with substantial holdings in the adult film industry.
After his home was searched, Ko later went with police to be questioned, but this did not constitute a formal arrest. It was when Ko refused to submit to an overnight questioning that he was formally arrested, over concerns that he would collude with others to cover up evidence if freed.
Anger from Ko supporters was quick, with Ko supporters gathering outside of the Taiwan Taipei District Prosecutor’s Office where Ko is held. After the release of Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen, who was also being questioned by police, she was picked up by TPP legislator Huang Shan-shan. This proves an unusual show of unity for the party, seeing as Huang was previously stripped of party rights for three years and removed as the TPP’s deputy caucus whip to take responsibility for the TPP’s financial woes, even if she will continue to serve as a legislator.
Ko Wen-je (left). Photo credit: Ko Wen-je/Facebook
Indeed, the balance of power in the TPP with Ko still detained remains unknown. Party caucus whip Huang Kuo-chang, who is often perceived as gaining politically by occupying the power vacuum left by Ko, has taken a preeminent role in declaring that the party’s standing committee had decided to form an emergency committee.
As for Ko, his arrest took place shortly after he had announced that he would be taking a three-month leave as leader of the TPP to clear up the party’s financial irregularities. But while maintaining an attitude of contrition to party supporters over the TPP’s financial mismanagement stumbles, in that the party apparently declared no campaign expenditures during its 2024 presidential campaign, Ko has framed his arrest as an illegitimate action by the government, and claimed this to be a form of political persecution that had never happened before in Taiwanese history.
Even if Ko’s arrest still seems to have mostly been in connection with the Core Pacific City Mall scandal, the two scandals may become linked in the public imagination, regardless of whether or not it is true that they are genuinely linked. After all, that Ko took leave as chair of the TPP as a sign of contrition, then hit out at the government a day later over having his offices searched may be perceived as a U-turn, and Ko may come to generally be seen as having a number of involvements in political corruption scandals.
It is possible that further scandals will emerge about Ko, or that he will face further charges. After all, the Core Pacific City Mall is not the only development project that Ko is accused of potentially being involved in political corruption over. Ko is accused of acting to benefit the Shin Kong Group’s purchase of the Shilin Beitou Technology Park in spite of lacking an investment plan. Firms linked to the Core Pacific Group have also been alleged to be involved in the development of the First Fruit and Vegetable Market in Wanhua. Ko also remains accused of pocketing campaign subsidies to purchase an expensive office for himself near the legislature, when by contrast, DPP candidate Lai Ching-te and KMT candidate Hou You-yi returned election subsidies to their respective parties after the end of their campaigns.