Taiwan Civil Government flexed muscle parading in Taipei while lobbying in Washington

While the American news media was not paying attention to Taiwan Civil Government and its call for expulsion of the exiled Republic of China and installation of a transition US military government, the group was busy. Parades, rallies, and offices throughout Taiwan point to heavy spending by the group seeking to send the ROC back to China.

The May 11 arrest of seven top leaders of the pro-American TCG, including founder Roger Lin and his wife Julian, on political fraud charges are either a response to complaints of financial misdeeds or the persecution of political opposition by an exiled Chinese government. The arrests and ongoing investigation has shattered TCG lobbying efforts in Washington to gain favor for a Taiwan free of control by the Republic of China.

Taiwan Civil Government is structured like a shadow government waiting to be installed complete with its own flag, identification cards, vanity license plates, uniforms, and even a paramilitary Black Bear squad. The group does not seek immediate independence for Taiwan but instead wants the United States to expel the Republic of China and set up a US-controlled transition government to allow the free choice of the Taiwanese people.

Taiwan, also called Formosa, has been in political purgatory, often called the strategic ambiguity, since the end of World War II when the United States imposed the Republic of China as a caretaker until the island's sovereignty could be determined. Japan renounced all claim to Formosa in the San Francisco Peace Treaty that formally ended World War II between Japan and the United States. At the time of the treaty the war in Korea was raging and President Harry Truman decided to delay resolution of Taiwan's future until peace came to the region.

The Cold War and the battle against Communism kept the strategic island in limbo and home to a large clandestine network where the station chief of the Central Intelligence Agency had more power than the Ambassador. Taiwan's longstanding unresolved status has created much public confusion about the future and invites groups like Taiwan Civil Government to form.

The largest TCG parade marched outside the Presidential Palace in Taipei. The colorful show of force, including the Black Bear squad, caught the attention of ROC authorities who have been watching the group closely. Roger Lin was once called in for questioning by prosecutors about treason charges for urging imprisoned ROC former President Chen Shui-bian to use United States military courts. The matter was dropped after Chen decided to not pursue American jurisdiction of his case for political reasons.

Prosecutors are now saying that Lin amassed large sums of money from unwitting donors. Nobody is talking about the large sums of money spent pursuing TCG's agenda for expulsion of the Republic of China from Taiwan.