Outgoing Taiwan leader faces corruption probe

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Taiwanese prosecutors launched a corruption probe against outgoing President Chen Shui-bian on Tuesday, hours after he completed eight combative years in office.

The Supreme Prosecutors Office, which reports directly to the Supreme Court, said in a statement that Chen was being investigated for his role in the handling of a special presidential fund used to pursue Taiwan's foreign diplomacy.

"The office has assigned a seven-member investigative unit to take charge of the case," it said.

There was no immediate comment from Chen.

The investigation relates to the alleged embezzlement of $484,000. Chen's wife was indicted in December 2006 over the fund's handling. At the time, prosecutors said Chen could be indicted once he left office, ending his presidential immunity.

The probe is a further blow to Chen's legacy, already in tatters over the indictment of several members of his inner circle on graft charges, and the conviction of his son-in-law for insider trading.

Taiwanese analysts agree that the atmosphere of corruption pervading the Chen administration was a major reason behind the defeat of his Democratic Progressive Party in legislative elections in January and its loss in the presidential poll in March.

Chen was replaced Tuesday by Ma Ying-jeou, who used his inaugural address to pledge to clean up politics and raise public accountability.

Ma also called on China to open a new page in the island's long-strained relationship while rejecting any move to seek unification with the mainland.

Chen's confrontational pro-independence policies often led to friction with Beijing -- and with the United States, Taiwan's most important foreign partner.

Addressing political leaders and representatives from Taiwan's dwindling cadre of diplomatic allies, he exhorted Beijing to seize the chance created by his election victory in March to build a better future for people on both sides of the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.

"(I) hope that the two sides can use this rare historical opportunity," he said. "Let's open a new page of peace and prosperity."

Ma's comments in his inaugural address were consistent with his long-standing policies of seeking greater economic engagement with Beijing, without renouncing Taiwan's de facto sovereignty.

But he made it clear that while he renounces the platform of formal independence espoused by Chen, he is also opposed to unification with the mainland, from which Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949.

"We will adopt the principle of no independence, no unification, and no use of force," he said.

Fifty-nine years after their split, China still claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and has repeatedly threatened to attack if the island makes its de facto independence permanent.

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