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Taipei (AFP) April 18, 2011 A Chinese student leader from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests said Monday he had received money from a past Taiwan government through a fund that backed democracy activism on the mainland. Wang Dan, who is now based on the island, said he received an unspecified amount of money from former president Chen Shui-bian -- who was in office from 2000-2008 -- but did not think it had come from Chen's own pocket. "Apparently, this money was given by the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan's official title) rather than by Mr. Chen Shui-bian himself," he said in an article printed in the Taipei-based Apple Daily. "In other words, Mr. Chen represented the Republic of China government while displaying financial support to China's democracy movement," Wang said. Chen, already in jail on separate charges of bribery, is under investigation over claims he embezzled state funds during his presidency, but has insisted the money was used for "secret diplomatic missions" on the island's behalf. As an exiled Chinese dissident, Wang said that his group would welcome any legal political donations. "We especially expect the government of the Republic of China to understand the significance of China's democracy movement," he said. Wang -- now a visiting scholar at the National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu -- told the High Court last week that he had received money from Chen. But he categorically denied reports last week that he had received $400,000, saying on Facebook that the amount was incorrect. Chen is serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence on two convictions of bribery in separate cases. Those also implicated his wheelchair-bound wife, who was spared the same prison term because of her poor health. The former leader says the legal action against him forms part of a political vendetta by Taiwan's current Beijing-friendly government in retaliation for his pro-independence stance while in power. Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but Beijing considers the self-ruled island to be part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
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