Photo :Dragged on for 25 years, the Tai Ji Men case has stirred up conversations within Taiwan and attracted the attention of experts and scholars internationally.
October 10,2021
The Tai Ji Men case, which is called the " 228 Incident of Legal Taxation" by experts and scholars, was determined in the third judicial judgment 14 years ago that there was no guilt, no tax debts, and no violation of the tax collection law. The illegal tax bills derived from the criminal case should be completely revoked. However, this tax case made out of nothing has yet to be concluded. The scheduled place of the Tai Ji Men practice site was illegally auctioned by the Administration Executive Office and the National Taxation Bureau in the last year (2020), and was nationalized. Scholars and experts pointed out that this case is the biggest disaster in the history of Taiwan's tax law, involving various issues such as the checks and balances and accountability of judicial personnel abusing power, the administrative agency's error correction mechanism, and the inadequate tax relief system.
On July 13th this year, 25 non-governmental organizations including the United Nations/NGO World Citizens’ Association jointly organized the online "Tai Ji Men 1219 Incident Rehabilitation Fourteenth Anniversary Forum". Dozens of influential experts and scholars from Taiwan, Europe, and the United States expressed their opinions and looked forward to the government to face and correct mistakes frankly, rebuild judicial prestige and make Taiwan's human rights truly in line with international standards.
Fight for tax justice Relieve suffering for the victims of legal tax
Rene Wadlow, Chairman of the United Nations/NGO World Citizens Association, pointed out that at this moment when the world is facing unprecedented man-made and natural disasters, Tai Ji Men continues to promote conscience, love and peace through various means; on the other hand, they use their own painful experiences to fight for tax justice, fight against corruption and abuse of power, continue to fight and even propose to the world a new issue of persecuting human rights through taxation. Their efforts to safeguard freedom of belief inspire people to continue to strive for the respect they deserve for freedom of religion and belief.
Dr. Hong Tao Tze, the head of Tai Ji Men, thanked the participants for gathering online and caring about the country's rule of law and human rights development. Dr. Hong said that in the past two decades, Tai Ji Men has undergone the refining of the broken legal tax system. It has come in the water and in the fire, with personal pain and the suffering of people, and hopes to use this pain to awaken the original heart of the bureaucracy; reform the existing unhealthy system; use one's own efforts to promote the progress of legal taxation, and imitate the legend that the peacock can eat a hundred poison and spit fragrance. In addition to rehabilitating the unjust cases of Tai Ji Men, more importantly, we hope to help the victims of the legal tax disaster free from suffering. Whether the "conscience" of justice and taxation is awakened or not has a bearing on the country's future destiny. I hope that the conscience will guide everyone in the right direction like a compass, lead everyone to make the right decision bravely, so that the wrongs and false cases will no longer be gone, and the people will be able to settle down in this land freely and happily.
"Twenty-five years, how many 25 years are there in life?" All the Taijimen disciples issued a joint statement, demonstrating their determination to pursue the truth, defend human rights, and persevere to the end. "Tai Ji Men disciples at home and abroad, defend their beliefs, swear to do the right way, and will uphold the perseverance of the practitioners to distinguish right from wrong, and have the spirit of saving the world, according to the law, according to evidence, and according to the facts, continue to end false cases, show the grievances of the masters, and promote work hard for the reform of the national law and taxation until the day when justice is truly upheld, the people can live and work in peace, free from shortage and fear."
Lawyer Weng Yiru, a disciple of Tai Ji Men, said that the Tai Ji Men case was listed by the Supervisory Office as a major human rights protection indicator case in Taiwan. Taiwan’s white paper on taxation and human rights in the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China also listed this case as an index case. The day about fourteen years ago, it was confirmed innocent and no tax owed by the judicial judgment of the third instance, and the state was awarded compensation for unjust imprisonment. Twenty-five years to date, injustice in taxation resulting from illegal and abuse of power has not been redressed, even the pre-determined site of the Tai Ji Men disciple’s practice site was illegally forcibly auctioned and even nationalized! All Tai Ji Men academies are places for Tai Ji Men master and disciples to teach and practice, the land in the Miaoli mountain area and the Swiss Mountain Villa are the pre-determined sites of the place of spiritual practice, which is equivalent to the place and land for church worship. According to the General Opinion No. 22 of the Public Policy Convention, Article 53 and Article 113 of the Enforcement Law, it shall not be the target of seizures and auctions. However, the Administrative Executive Office ignored the multiple statements of objections made by the Tai Ji Men master and disciples who put forward the reasons why these sites should not be sealed up or auctioned off. The Administrative Executive Office even illegally auctioned the place of spiritual practice. This is a serious persecution of the people's freedom of religious belief and freedom of choice in cultural life. Let’s call on the government to bravely correct mistakes, revoke illegal tax bills, return the pre-arranged Tai Ji Men practice site that was auctioned off illegally, vindicate unjust cases, and implement transformational justice.
International experts and scholars condemned bureaucracy
Tai Ji Men case dragged on for 25 years, not only has it aroused discussion from all walks of life in China, but also aroused the high attention and voice of international scholars. Eileen Barker, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, feels unbelievable that more than 300 legislators have spoken out for the Tai Ji Men case, but the case still continues to this day! Why didn’t the change happen? Professor Barker believes that under "bureaucracy," a small number of people have always hijacked the entire government.
"I have never seen more abuse of power than the Tai Ji Men tax case." Kenneth Jacobsen, an adviser to former U.S. President Clinton and a professor at Temple University School of Law, pointed out that when government officials abused power, it was not just those affected, the victims are all of us. Because this means that the rule of law has not been followed, and all people are victims regardless of whether they are directly abused.
Willy Fautré, founder of the Belgian "Human Rights Without Borders" organization, said that Tai Ji Men is a valuable asset of Taiwanese society and a valuable asset that enhances Taiwan’s international image. However, the National Taxation Bureau and its associate, Hou Kuanren, who was once known as the Rambo of justice, still turns a deaf ear to the appeal of Tai Ji Men. Eric Roux, chairman of the European Forum on Interreligious Religious Freedom, believes that Taiwan is one of the great democracies in the world today. He cannot understand that he would allow a small number of bureaucrats to continue to persecute a peaceful and honest spiritual practice group for 25 years. Even the land was confiscated by the state auction?
The founder of Soteria International in Denmark, Konrad Swenninger said, “some would say that opposing the flaws of your country’s authorities is an act of patriotism. Few have virtuously stood to expose the flaws of the Taiwanese judiciary system, more than members of Tai Ji Men.
Thierry Valle, President of the Coordination of Associations and Individuals for Freedom of Conscience said, Taiwan has won the sympathy of many countries and organizations around the world for the defense of democratic rights in East Asia and the transparent and effective management of the Covid-19 crisis. It is high time that this old situation be resolved by guaranteeing the members of Tai Ji Men, their human rights and their dignity and freedom of religion.
Marco Respinti, an Italian journalist who serves as director-in-charge of Bitter Winter, said,I think that we should all stand by Tai Ji Men. The battle of Tai Ji Men is the battle for the most important, most essential human rights, religious freedom, is the battle for freedom, is the battle for liberty, is the battle for justice. It is the battle for equal treatment of all before the law.
Massimo Introvigne, the Italian sociologist who serves as managing director of CESNUR and editor-in-chief of Bitter Winter said, they would have paid had they settled with the tax bureau, but they don’t want to settle because by settling they would acknowledge they were guilty of tax evasion and that goes both against factual truth and against their conscience. He also points out that if there is no remedy for the injustice, Taiwan’s international reputation will suffer.
Unjustified Tai Ji Men Case, Transitional Justice Failure
Chen Tze-Lung, president of Taiwan Society for the Study of Financial and Criminal Law applauded the 2007 verdict in the criminal case, but stated that it was only partial justice, since the culprits in the Tai Ji Men case have not been punished. This, Chen noted, shows Taiwan’s limits in the pursuit of transitional justice, i.eThe form of justice that offers relief to citizens targeted by past injustices after a transition to genuine democracy has been completed.The Tai Ji Men case stems from political purge, and it should be resolved politically in accordance with international human rights standards. Due to the awakening of the people (including the legal profession), international attention, and the friendship made by Tai Ji Men to 101 countries across the world for love and peace exchanges, I believe the Tai Ji Men case can be rectified. At the same time, the culprit has been exposed and the truth has been revealed, and the crime has been exposed, and their behavior can no longer be justified.
Tsai Meng-Yen, the Adjunct Assistant Professor of the Department of public finance and tax administration of National Taipei University of Business, said since 5 of the 6 taxable years have been corrected to zero, it is questionable that the remaining year hides behind res judicata. If it is taxable then should be taxed and if it is not taxable then they should all not be taxed. The actions should be the same. The findings across the years should be the same. The government should see if there is mistake, if so, then it should be relied on res judicata. They should use res judicata when it is in favor of the government and avoid it when it is in favor of the people.
It is reasonable that the NTB collects legal taxes, but taxes collected beyond the legally permitted scope are robberies, and improper profits should be returned, said Fan Wenqing, associate professor of law at Soochow University. Article 117 and 128 of the Administrative Procedure Act are inherited from German law. In Germany, the tax authorities can still revoke the taxation penalty because the importance of the justice of the case is more important than the judgement of the court. Therefore, if a tax sanction is determined by the court, Articles 117 and 128 of the Administrative Procedure Act may also be applied. If the judgement of the court is to be respected, is the acquittal and tax-free verdict in the Tai Ji Men criminal case respected?
Tzuhsiang Chen, an attorney of Chengchuan International Law Firm (誠銓國際法律所）said that when the Tai Ji Men case was rehabilitated, it was the beginning of another disaster. All cases should be treated equally, but in the Taijimen case, from the billing and taxation to the follow-up execution, there has been continuous creation of unprecedented exceptions and practices which raises reasonable doubt to suspect that executing officers did so on the purpose of their performance evaluation. He saw that the Taijimen case had not been over yet, but the Administrative Enforcement Agency had already started to discuss how to divide up the monetary bonus. This is really unbelievable! The agency had already assumed that they would end the case by any means. It’s like shooting the dart first then drawing the target to make it look like it is right on the target. Is this really a mature country ruled by laws?
Uphold the moral and conscience, the government should stand for Reform and debug
Su Youchen, Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Association for Human Rights said, The national taxation Bureau rushed to issue bills before reached a verdict, and these tax bills have been spreading like a virus. It should have been redressed under Administrative Procedure Act Article 117 and the retrial procedure, but the interpretation of the current law restricts the people's right to relief. Ever since Taiwan implements the two conventions ”The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)”, and the national human rights report should reflect any violation. But it’s not. It is recommended that the government aggressively fixing the law and establish an effective relief system, which is retrospectively, and make national compensation available. Just like the European Court of Human Rights accepts rulings on human rights violations by government agencies. Thus, the fruit of Tai Ji Men’s 25 years of pursuit of justice and perseverance will benefit innocent tax victims. It will be boundless merit.
Chenhsing Chang, an attorney at Chiu Shih Li Ting Law Firm said, From the point of view of criminal law and human rights, a taxation case based on indictment of criminal cases, is the theory of a poisonous fruit from Ca tree. The tree grows from the poisonous ground, thus its fruit is poisonous and cannot be consumed; The verdict of Tai Ji Men criminal case was no fraud. The Control Yuan twice investigated and confirmed that the prosecutor and the NTB violated the law. But Tai Ji Men’s property was forcibly auctioned off the law illegally, instead, the illegal officials had not been punished. He sighed: "It's ridiculous!"
Shihcheng Huang, the chairman of the Taiwan Heritage Foundation, said through a representative: "National Taxation Bureau made a serious mistake of violating the law that the Presidential office and the 5 branches of the government would not do anything to protect its people!" He urged that law violating officials should be brought to justice.
Kunkuang Huang, the former Senior Auditor of the National Taxation Bureau of Kaohsiung, said that for 55 years, Tai Ji Men master teaches his disciples to cultivate their minds and nurturing spirit, and promoting the traditional culture, and spreading kindness. Tai Ji Men has been illegally taxed and levied illegally In the past 25 years, which causes injustice to tens of thousands of disciples and their families, and still not able to be redressed. Tai Ji Men’s persistence could bring hope for many other taxation victims including those who have no income but are being taxed for huge taxes. He pointed out that history has taught us that injustice taxation was the reason that most regimes or dynasties fell out.
Famous political commentator Hu, Zhongxin shares the story of Luke chapter 19 of the New Testament. Zacchaeus was a tax collector during the Roman Empire. Everyone despises him for his extortion taxation. Later he was inspired by Jesus. He donated half of his fortune, and gave back four times to those victims whom he levied. Hu, Zhongxin hopes that Taiwan’s tax officials will uphold their moral conscience, thoroughly correct their mistakes, and implement the universal values of freedom, democracy, and human rights.
