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| Taiwan ex-leader faces graft case | Taiwan ex-leader faces graft case |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Taiwanese prosecutors have announced they are mounting a corruption inquiry against ex-President Chen Shui-bian. | |
| The move came as he lost presidential immunity after being formally replaced by Ma Ying-jeou, two months after the latter's decisive election victory. | |
| Prosecutors named Mr Chen as a suspect in a $450,000 embezzlement case. He any denies wrongdoing. | |
| His wife, Wu Shu-chen, is already on trial in the same case, on charges of corruption and forgery. | His wife, Wu Shu-chen, is already on trial in the same case, on charges of corruption and forgery. |
| Prosecutors said they had asked the presidential office for documents which had been kept confidential while Mr Chen, a former human rights lawyer, was in office. | Prosecutors said they had asked the presidential office for documents which had been kept confidential while Mr Chen, a former human rights lawyer, was in office. |
| "We have formally started the investigation of the special expenses case concerning former president Chen," said a spokesman for a special investigation unit of the Supreme Prosecutor's Office. | "We have formally started the investigation of the special expenses case concerning former president Chen," said a spokesman for a special investigation unit of the Supreme Prosecutor's Office. |
| No comment | |
| Mr Chen made no comment about the case during a visit on Tuesday to a recycling factory run by a Buddhist charity in the capital of Taipei. | |
| Mr Chen and his family have been mired in corruption allegations since 2006, when his son-in-law was charged with insider trading on the stock market and then jailed for seven years. | Mr Chen and his family have been mired in corruption allegations since 2006, when his son-in-law was charged with insider trading on the stock market and then jailed for seven years. |
| An inquiry in 2006 sparked massive demonstrations calling for Mr Chen's resignation and moves in parliament to oust him from office. | |
| The new Taiwanese president favours closer relations with the Chinese government. | |
| In his inauguration speech, Mr Ma said he wanted a new dialogue with China, but denied he would enter reunification talks. | |
| The softly-spoken politician has previously said he wants Taiwan to be regarded internationally as a responsible stakeholder and not a troublemaker. | |
| The BBC's Caroline Gluck in Taipei says this is a dig at his predecessor, Mr Chen, whose strident pro-independence views not only angered China, but at times also strained relations with the island's most important ally, the US. |