Posted By: John Steele

By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press WriterSat Nov 4, 7:34 AM ET

TAIPEI, Taiwan - She was key to her husband's rise in Taiwan's politics. Now she may be the cause of his downfall. ADVERTISEMENT
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President Chen Shui-bian faces mounting pressure to resign after his wife was indicted on corruption charges Friday. First lady Wu Shu-chen is accused of dipping into a special fund for diplomacy, and prosecutors say Chen could also be implicated, though he cannot be indicted as a sitting president.

Wu and Chen, who have been married since 1975, campaigned together in the 1980s during the final years of Taiwan's brutal martial law era. Chen had left his comfortable career as a maritime lawyer to enter Taiwan's knuckle-busting political world, initially defending pro-democracy dissidents.

Wu helped her lawyerly husband stand out among the pack of fiery young opposition politicians jostling for leadership roles as Taiwan evolved into a democracy.

At street rallies, Chen would roll his wheelchair-bound wife out on the stage and tell the crowd she was crippled by the authoritarian Nationalist Party that had ruled the island since its split from rival China amid civil war in 1949.

Wu, a 54-year-old with an impish, diamond-shaped face, has been paralyzed from the waist down since a truck hit her after a county-level election that Chen lost in 1985, two years before the end of the martial law era. The driver said it was an accident and wasn't charged. But Chen called it an assassination attempt, noting that the truck ran over his wife three times.

The couple raised two children during Chen's rise to legislator and then mayor of Taipei in 1994 — one of the island's most powerful political positions. It was a spectacular climb for the son of an illiterate mother and a dirt-poor father who worked in the sugarcane fields and factories of southern Taiwan.

When he campaigned for a second term as Taipei mayor in 1998, Chen was the target of a smear campaign that alleged he was joining sex tours in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau because he was unsatisfied with his disabled wife.

The media-shy Wu defended her husband in a speech, saying the couple had a healthy sex life.

Chen lost that race and was widely dismissed as washed up. But he made a remarkable comeback with his upset presidential election victory in 2000, which snapped the Nationalist Party's five-decade grip on the top office.

Again, Wu was instrumental. During the campaign, a poignant TV ad showed the workaholic candidate carrying his frail wife. A voiceover by Chen explained he often has to help his wife go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

The ad helped humanize and soften Chen's image as stiff, robotic and socially awkward.

What the 55-year-old Chen lacks in personality, he makes up for in ambition and energy.

He rarely takes holidays and is a tireless campaigner, at best when using his raspy voice in rousing speeches at the massive rallies his Democratic Progressive Party is brilliant at organizing.

He won the presidency partly by promising to crack down on "black gold" — Taiwanese slang for corruption and money politics. He had some early success with high-profile convictions, some even including members of his party.

But legislative gridlock blocked many of his initiatives. The hotheaded, inexperienced president would sometimes provoke the opposition or flip-flop on issues, making it hard for him to win his opponents' trust.

Chen also struggled to engineer a breakthrough in relations with China, whose communist leaders insist Taiwan must eventually unify with the mainland or face attack.

At times, Chen seemed pragmatic and ready to negotiate with Beijing. At others, he pushed pro-independence policies that riled China.

Wu started becoming a liability for her husband when he ran for re-election in 2004. The pro-opposition media began painting a picture of her as a greedy money-grabber, sometimes seen with her wispy, white Maltese dog "Honey" on her lap.

There were stories about her jade earrings, luxury watches and shopping trips. There were also rumors she thrived in the stock market, benefiting from insider information.

Chen, who narrowly won the 2004 presidential vote, insists his wife did nothing wrong, but acknowledges that she should stay out of the market.

Few really know the dynamics of Chen's marriage, but many believe Wu controls the family finances and is obsessed with saving money for their post-presidency life.

In the past year, opposition politicians have accused Wu of receiving free vouchers from Taipei's upscale Sogo department store. They have also accused her of receiving up to $3.1 million from unidentified business executives seeking favors.

The president has said she's innocent, and investigators cleared her in the department store scandal.

But Friday, prosecutors indicted Wu for allegedly taking $450,000 from a fund for special diplomatic projects between 2002 and 2006. Prosecutors said there was also evidence against Chen, who as a sitting president can only be indicted for sedition.

Chen has said he will discuss the case in the next two days, and this time it's doubtful his wife will share the stage.

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