The biotech company TaiMed Inc. was a major investment project promoted by the administration of former President Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). According to a U.S. diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks, Tsai Ing-wen, a former vice premier under the Chen administration, told American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young in July 2007 that she would devote herself to promoting Taiwan's biotech industry after stepping down as vice premier. She also boasted of her role in drafting the Act for the Development of the Biotech and New Pharmaceuticals Industry. With such close involvement, Tsai should not have brought her family's capital into the TaiMed project. This is a basic ethical principle to avoid a conflict of interest, even if she did not expect she would run for president in the future. Just three days before the March 22, 2008 presidential election, the Council of Economic Planning and Development approved an investment of NT$875 million in a venture capital company set up by Tsai's family for the TaiMed project, of which Tsai served as its chairwoman. The fund, however, was not appropriated after the Kuomintang regained power, or Tsai would have found herself in even greater trouble today. The TaiMed case is reminiscent of another one in which the former DPP administration planned to form a private company to handle the government's arms procurements. The DPP was forced to drop the outrageous plan amid strong doubts among the public. Both cases reflect how intolerably foolhardy the DPP was during the transitional period before the transfer of power. By complaining of being smeared in the TaiMed case, Tsai has exposed her ignorance of political ethics and social perceptions. It is most dangerous when one cannot see his or her own weak points and moral flaws. (Editorial abstract -- Dec. 15, 2011) (By Y.F. Low)
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