Former President Chen Shui-bian was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison, on top of the 17 years he is already serving for corruption. The High Court overturned a lower court's acquittal and said that Mr. Chen took $20 million worth of bribes from two banks involved in merger cases. In 2009, he had been sentenced in a separate case of accepting...
Chen Shui-bian, the former president of Taiwan who had been on trial since March on corruption charges, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison on Friday by a three-judge panel. The sentencing was expected, but nonetheless came as a serious blow to the political forces that Mr. Chen had led for decades in opposing the traditional ruling party...

Most people in Taiwan have seen the image of former President Chen Shui-bian holding his handcuffed wrists above his head last November and shouting ''political persecution'' when he was arrested on corruption charges. So a scene in a skit last month performed in front of more than 200 of the island's judges and prosecutors -- some involved in...