More political corruption…

BEIJING: The corruption trial of Taiwan’s former president, Chen Shui-bian, opened in a heavily guarded Taipei courtroom on Thursday, hours after Mr. Chen blasted the proceedings as a “tool for political suppression and persecution” by his successor.

Mr. Chen, who was elected president in 2000 and took office with a pledge to end political corruption, faces charges of bribery and embezzlement that could draw a sentence of life in prison if he is convicted. He resigned from Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party last August after admitting that his wife had wired $21 million in campaign funds to accounts in Singapore, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.

Prosecutors have since charged that he stole or took bribes totaling more than $30 million, sometimes in return for political favors involving land deals. His wife, Wu Shu-chen; his son; and his daughter-in-law pleaded guilty last month to money laundering, and Ms. Wu also pleaded guilty to forgery.

But Mr. Chen has said that he is innocent, that Ms. Wu handled campaign money and that he was ignorant of the dealings. He has maintained the charges are a plot by Taiwan’s current president, Ma Ying-jeou, to win favor with China’s government.

In office, Mr. Chen was a fierce advocate of independence from China, which still claims sovereignty over Taiwan nearly 60 years after a civil war split the island’s government from the mainland. Mr. Ma has favored closer relations with Beijing.

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