former speaker arrested

Former Changhua County Assembly Speaker Bai Hongsen 白鴻森 was arrested in Xiamen last week and has been repatriated to Taiwan to serve his prison sentence for corruption in office.   I wonder if it is a coincidence that, after four months on the lam in China, Bai was arrested the day after his son was elected vice-speaker of the Changhua County Assembly.  (The new speaker was Bai’s former vice-speaker and a mere 31 years old, so he could also be a Bai  protege.)  Technically speaking, Bai was an independent, he isn’t the KMT’s responsibility.  However, this deniability is see-through.  Bai was elected with to the speaker’s post with the KMT’s full support.  It’s just speculation, but could the KMT, the PRC, and Bai have agreed that the arrest should wait until after the speaker and vice speaker elections, thus protecting all their interests?

Tags: speaker election