Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has dodged yet another bullet. Unlike the failed assassination attempt during his last election campaign, this attack was metaphorical. His party defeated an impeachment vote in Taiwan's legislature, virtually ensuring that Mr. Chen will serve out his second four-year term as president. But damage has been done: Mr. Chen, who took power promising to clean up Taiwanese politics, has been badly hurt by allegations of corruption. His Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is now severely handicapped for the next presidential election. It faces a test this weekend in mayoral elections in Taiwan's two largest cities, Taipei and Kaohsiung.
Taiwan politics is brutal and contentious, but Mr. Chen's tenure as president has been stormier than even the most cynical politician would have predicted. The first genuine opposition leader elected president, Mr. Chen has had to deal with a legislature dominated by the opposition Nationalist Party (KMT), which has gone out of its way to frustrate his every initiative. The KMT has been aided by the Communist government in Beijing, which considers Mr. Chen "a splittist" and independence activist, and has done everything possible to marginalize and isolate the president.
The campaign against the president has intensified in recent months as allegations of corruption swirled around his family and close associates. In early November, a high court prosecutor announced that he had sufficient evidence to charge Mr. Chen's wife, son-in-law and several senior aides with embezzlement of government funds. The prosecutor added that he would have charged Mr. Chen as well if he had not had presidential immunity. That triggered an impeachment vote in the Legislative Yuan, the third recall launched by the opposition since June when the outline of the scandal began to emerge. That effort fell 28 votes short of the two-thirds majority required. Apparently, the DPP and its ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, swallowed their doubts and backed the president.