BBC News reported that the legislature had begun to debate the motion to remove President Chen from office because the opposition parties, Kuomintang and People’s First Party, claimed he had lost the public’s confidence.

According to the International Herald Tribune, thousands rallied for the president’s resignation in Taipei at the end of the month. The same source states that the allegations of corruption surrounding his family involve the First Lady, said to have received an estimated US $156,000 (5 million Taiwan dollars) in vouchers from a department store in exchange for political favours. One of Chen’s top aides has also been indicted for corruption.

The Christian Science Monitor noted that the president’s son-in-law, parents and siblings were all under investigation for using inside information to buy shares of Taiwan Development Corporation from a partly state-owned bank.