Update Date: 2010/09/09 04:11
6 Innocent Turned Guilty, 2 Are Current Legislators

[Reporter Yang Guowen / Taipei Report]

The Chinese Medicine Merchants Association's bribery case involving legislative amendments saw a major reversal in the second trial yesterday. The first trial had only found former legislators Qiu Chuizhen and Liao Fuben guilty of accepting bribes, while six other former and current legislators, including Feng Dingguo, were acquitted. However, the High Court ruled that the case involved "fake sponsorships, real bribes," concluding that all eight former and current legislators from both the pan-blue and pan-green camps had accepted bribes in exchange for their legislative authority. The court overturned the acquittals and sentenced all eight to heavy penalties, with Qiu Chuizhen receiving the harshest sentence of 10 years for accepting NT$10 million in bribes. This case marks the first instance where legislators were convicted for accepting bribes to amend laws, though the ruling can still be appealed.

**First Case of Legislators Convicted for Bribery in Law Amendments**

The panel of judges ruled that all eight legislators violated Article 5, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 3 of the Anti-Corruption Act, which criminalizes accepting bribes for official acts. The sentences started at seven years, with Liao Fuben maintaining his first-instance sentence of eight and a half years, while Qiu Chuizhen's sentence was increased from eight to ten years. The six others who were newly convicted received sentences ranging from seven to eight years, and all were ordered to return their illegal gains. Among the eight legislators involved in the amendments, only Li Junyi and Xu Shubo remain in office.

**Qiu Chuizhen Gets 10 Years, Ordered to Repay NT$10 Million**

The case was prosecuted by the Special Investigation Division (SID). Investigators found that the Department of Health opposed amending the law to grant dispensing rights to Chinese medicine merchants without requiring them to pass a national exam. To push through the amendment, the Chinese Medicine Merchants Association, led by its chairman Xu Qingsong, began soliciting donations from members in July 1996 under the guise of "training fees" to fund lobbying efforts. The association then used these funds to bribe legislators under the pretense of "sponsorship payments," aiming to pass an amendment to Article 103 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act that would exempt Chinese medicine merchants from the national exam requirement.

A total of NT$39.02 million was raised. Starting in October 1996, Xu Qingsong and others leveraged personal connections—including legislators' relatives—to lobby and bribe eight third-term legislators. The amendment was eventually passed on May 30, 1998.

An unusual incident occurred during the legislative process. On December 29, 1997, during a review by the Interior and Border Affairs Committee, legislators Zhao Yongqing, Li Junyi, and Chen Hongji attended, along with non-committee members Xu Shubo and Qiu Chuizhen. Qiu threatened to "resist to the death" if the amendment failed, ultimately securing its first reading. Li Junyi and Qiu Chuizhen also proposed a supplementary resolution demanding the resignation of Su Guanzhong, head of the Department of Health's Chinese Medicine Committee, who opposed the amendment, forcing Su to resign after the review.

Additionally, Liao Fuben initially demanded NT$10 million from Xu Qingsong but was paid only NT$6 million after Xu argued that the amendment's success was not solely due to Liao's efforts.

The High Court panel noted that the association paid between NT$300,000 and NT$10 million to the eight legislators during or after the amendment process, depending on their commitments to propose, co-sponsor, or support the bill. The legislators, either personally or through family members, knowingly accepted the bribes, which were directly linked to their efforts to pass the amendment.

Source: http:/ / tw. news. yahoo. com/ art……url/ d/ a/ 100909/ 78/ 2covf. html