He was bestowed with the Order of Belize and now a life sentence

In other news, he has the distinction as the second Taiwanese president to walk Belizean soil. On that visit in September 2004, fifty-eight year old Chen Shui-Bian was bestowed with the Order of Belize and he was given the symbolic keys to the capital. Relations were at a highpoint and Belize like the rest of its allies, were benefiting handsomely from Taiwan’s dollar diplomacy. But earlier today, the once powerful man was sentenced to life in prison for embezzling three million dollars from a presidential affairs fund and for accepting bribes amounting to nine million for government land deals. The Taipei District Court also found his wife, Wu Shu-Chen, guilty of similar Corruption charges and she was equally sentenced to life behind bars. He had been held at the Taipei Detention Center since December thirtieth, 2008. Shui-Bian’s son was also sentenced to two-and-a-half years for Money Laundering, and his daughter-in-law to one year and eight months.

Interestingly, on the very day he heard his fate, Shui-Bian’s successor, President Ying-jeou Ma, announced that for the first time in sixteen years, Taiwan would drop its bid for membership at the United Nations. That bid cost the island millions of dollars and was made at the United Nations General Assembly by the twenty-three countries, including Belize, with whom Taiwan has relations. Shui-Bian lobbied heavily for support but faced objections from China because of his rocky relationship with Beijing. President Ma has decided against bidding because he is trying to mend relations with China.