Ke Wenzhe Sentenced to 17 Years in First Trial, Shattering His 2028 Presidential Dream?

Taiwan Presidential Office. (Chen Bozhou / Dajiyuan)

[People News] Shocking news has emerged from Taiwan's political scene! The highly anticipated Jinghua City case, along with three other major cases related to political donations, was officially ruled on by the Taipei District Court on March 26. Ke Wenzhe, the founding chairman of the People's Party and former mayor of Taipei, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for multiple charges, including bribery, public interest infringement, and breach of trust, and was also deprived of public rights for 6 years.

This ruling represents a significant setback for Ke Wenzhe's political career and directly disqualifies him from running in the 2028 presidential election. Under current laws, individuals sentenced to more than 10 years in prison with a non-final judgment are prohibited from registering as candidates for president or vice president.

Let’s examine why the judge imposed such a severe sentence. The judgment revealed several shocking details. Firstly, in the central case of 'Jinghua City,' the judge found that Ke Wenzhe knowingly accepted a bribe of 2.1 million yuan from Shen Qingjing of the Weijing Group, despite lacking any legal basis, in order to secure support from the consortium. This facilitated Jinghua City in obtaining a 20% volume reward, allowing the developers to reap illegal profits exceeding 10 billion yuan.

The judge was further incensed by Ko Wen-je's 'post-offence attitude.' The ruling highlighted that during the search, prosecutors seized a piece of notepaper that Ko had personally torn up, which stated 'Jinghua → Orange going abroad.' The judge noted that this coincided with the timing of his aide, Xu Zhiyu (Orange), hastily travelling to Japan, suggesting that Ko Wen-je may have attempted to destroy evidence. The judge harshly criticised Ko for consistently denying all charges and failing to acknowledge his mistakes, which severely wasted judicial resources, leading to a heavy sentence.

In addition to the Jinghua City case, Ko Wen-je is also accused of misappropriating over 60 million NT dollars in political donations from the Taiwan People's Party and the campaign headquarters, as well as misusing 8.27 million NT dollars of public funds from the Zhongwang Foundation to pay employee salaries. The judge deemed these actions 'highly inappropriate.' In addition to the prison sentence, the ruling also ordered the confiscation of 8.1 million NT dollars in criminal proceeds from Ko Wen-je, while Dingyue Company, part of the Weijing Group, was ordered to forfeit over 12.1 billion NT dollars in illegal gains.

How will this ruling impact Taiwan's political landscape? Scholars suggest that the Taiwan People's Party, having lost Ko Wen-je, will be at a disadvantage in future 'blue-white alliances,' with control likely reverting to the Kuomintang. Furthermore, the Taiwan People's Party is facing an internal power restructuring; while Huang Guochang currently wields significant influence, it remains uncertain whether he can fully carry on Ko Wen-je's legacy.
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