Poor Chen Shui-bian. When he was at the height of his power as president of Taiwan, he ignored repeated appeals from then US president George W. Bush not to provoke Beijing and insisted on pushing the envelope, declaring that the island was an independent sovereign state separate from China.
A few weeks ago, he filed a lawsuit in the United States declaring that Taiwan, far from being independent, was actually under US military control. He said that, during his eight-year term, he had to follow orders from US officials 'even when these instructions interfered with my presidential decision-making'.
Chen, who is in prison appealing against his conviction on corruption and money-laundering charges and a sentence of life in prison, appealed to the US to use its legal authority to bring about his 'immediate release'.
In early October, the US Supreme Court refused to hear a similar case brought about by Taiwan activist Roger Lin alleging that Taiwan was under American military occupation. The court left standing a Court of Appeals ruling that political matters are dealt with by the executive branch, not the judiciary. That effectively quashed Chen's lawsuit.
In Taiwan, the case has had a devastating effect on Chen. A spokesman for the Democratic Progressive Party, of which Chen used to be chairman, said: 'The fact that Taiwan is independent and that the sovereignty rests in the hands of its people is ... a fact that is recognised and accepted by all the people. What former president Chen stated is different from the DPP's stance.'
Chen's former vice-president, Annette Lu Hsiu-lien, visited him in prison and said he had made 'a big mistake'. Frank Hsieh Chang-ting, the DPP's 2008 presidential candidate, called on the public to respect a ruling by the Council of Grand Justices that a switch in judges during Chen's trial was constitutional. Perhaps worst of all, the Ministry of Justice said it would investigate whether Chen had committed treason, a capital offence. Ironically, as president, Chen favoured abolishing capital punishment. Now, he may benefit from this policy.