【台北１２日時事】台湾最高検は１２日、総統府の機密費横領やマネーロンダリング（資金洗浄）など５件の容疑がかけられていた陳水扁前総統（５７）を逮捕、拘置した。陳氏は「政治的迫害だ」と無罪を主張して徹底抗戦する方針だが、野党・民進党が打撃を受けるのは必至で、台湾独立派に大きな痛手となる。
　総統経験者としては初めての逮捕者。陳氏は今後、最長計４カ月間の拘置期間中に起訴に向けた取り調べを受けることになる。
　陳氏は弁護士を通じ、「逮捕は甘んじて受け入れる。（逮捕）方針は早くから決まっており、政治的迫害であり抹殺だ」などとするコメントを発表。また、「わたし一人が歴史の十字架を背負えばよい」として、先に共犯者として逮捕された元側近らの釈放を求めた。
　陳氏は外交活動などに使う機密費を私的流用したほか、総統選の余剰資金とされた約２０００万米ドル（約２０億円）をスイスやシンガポールなど複数の海外銀行口座に送金するなどした疑い。最高検は既に同氏の元側近ら９人を逮捕。今後は、資金洗浄などに関与したとされる陳氏の長男夫婦らも逮捕される可能性が浮上している。（2008/11/12-11:24）

Former President of Taiwan Is Detained in a Corruption Inquiry

 Chen Shui-bian, the former president of Taiwan and an ardent advocate of continued independence for the island, was detained by the police there late Tuesday after prosecutors sought his formal arrest on corruption and money-laundering charges.

Mr. Chen, who served two terms as president and left office in the spring while his administration was mired in a corruption scandal, was led to court in handcuffs on Tuesday afternoon after several hours of questioning by prosecutors in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital.

The former president paused briefly before television cameras, raised his arms and defiantly shouted, “Long live Taiwan!” and “Political persecution!”

Late Tuesday evening, however, Taipei television reported that the court hearing had been suspended and that Mr. Chen had been taken to a hospital complaining that he had been roughed up by the police.

Mr. Chen, 57, has denied wrongdoing in the case and accused his successor, President Ma Ying-jeou, and the governing Kuomintang of a politically motivated attack. Officials of the Kuomintang, the Nationalist Party, insist that they have not influenced prosecutors in the case.

The detention is the latest chapter in a series of political dramas that have been unfolding in Taiwan for a few years as the island’s two major parties, the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party, have bickered over relations with China and traded accusations of corruption.

Last year, Mr. Ma was indicted over the use of funds while he had been mayor of Taipei several years ago. The Supreme Court later cleared him of the charges, paving the way for his presidential candidacy.

Mr. Chen, one of Taiwan’s most controversial political figures, was first elected in 2000. A populist with a penchant for fiery rhetoric, he was known during his two terms for his strong opposition to Beijing and his insistence that Taiwan, which separated from China in 1949, was not a province of the mainland.

During his second term, prosecutors began investigating whether Mr. Chen, his senior aides and his family members, including his wife, were involved in embezzling millions of dollars in campaign funds. Mr. Chen’s son, daughter and other relatives have also been questioned; some have been named as defendants.

Mr. Chen’s approval ratings plummeted late in his second term, and there were huge protests in Taipei against his rule.

Mr. Ma, who took office in May, has pushed for closer ties with the mainland and opened the possibility of eventual reunification.

Last week, officials from Beijing met in Taiwan with President Ma and other high-ranking officials, in one of the highest-level exchanges in 59 years, though the meetings drew strong protests from members of Mr. Chen’s Democratic Progressive Party.

Mr. Chen has suggested that prosecutors are focusing on him to win favor from Beijing. In recent weeks, with his party under siege because of the corruption investigation, he has accused President Ma of committing treason and selling out the island by moving closer to Beijing.

Former Taiwan president is jailed

Taiwan's ex-President Chen Shui-bian, who faces corruption charges, has been formally taken into custody.

A court had earlier approved a request by prosecutors to detain him after Mr Chen spent several hours answering questions in the prosecutor's office.

When he was led from the office in handcuffs he raised his arms into the air and shouted the words "political persecution" before getting into a car.

The former president, who stepped down in May, denies all the graft charges.

Mr Chen has been taken to Tucheng prison in the suburbs of the capital, Taipei. He can now be held for up to four months.

Police have reportedly tightened security around the jail amid threats from his supporters to protest over what they claim was an "unfair trial".

Muscle tear

The BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei says the authorities want to avoid the type of demonstrations seen last week during a landmark visit by a high-ranking Chinese Communist official to Taiwan.

Mr Chen and his supporters - who see closer ties to Beijing as a threat to Taiwan's sovereignty - opposed that visit.

Court proceedings had to be suspended on Tuesday, when Mr Chen said he needed hospital treatment after being pushed outside the court building.

He was returned to court for an overnight sitting after doctors found he had only a minor muscle tear.

Mr Chen is accused of money laundering and illegally using a special presidential fund.

But the staunch nationalist accuses the new administration of persecuting him to bow to the wishes of Beijing.

Mr Chen is an ardent supporter of Taiwanese independence, and a trenchant critic of President Ma Ying-jeou's Kuomintang (KMT) administration, which he accuses of pandering to China.

Mr Chen and his family have been mired in corruption allegations since 2006, when his son-in-law was charged with insider trading on the stock market and then jailed for seven years.

The charges have damaged the reputation of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), observers say, which may now face a rough ride in next year's local elections.

Taiwan has been ruled separately since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949; the defeated Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan to create a self-governing entity.

But Beijing sees the island as a breakaway province which should be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.