I only knew him from his Presidential days. He generated a lot of hot air . An actor at times.
Probably he started off idealistically enough but since he didn’t have the legislature he really couldn’t get much done.
He and his wife and family got very greedy smuggling money and jewels to the US. They also bought properties in Taichung. He claimed to be holding a slush fund for Taiwan’s security blah blah.
He played the 'we minnan people ’ card at the end when electioneering, I remember it well. I didn’t like that because it alienated large other sections of Taiwan’s population .
The bullet thing was an obvious setup. The guy who manufactured the gun mysteriously died later.
I give him maybe 6 out of 10 given the circumstances he was thrown into and that many parts of govt were conspiring against him.
I think he should have spent a year in jail in an open prison, I don’t like the way the KMT went after him.
I always thought the KMT were fools for locking him up. If they really wanted to screw over the DPP, they should have set him free so he could be in the news all the time.
The question on most people’s mind nowadays is: Is he faking the trembling of his hands? Not quite the legacy a former president would like to leave behind.
No matter what he still deserves credit for the work he did for the democratization of Taiwan. Going way back to the Dangwai days he was always prepared to stand up to the KMT scum and fight the good fight.