Agence France Presse

Taipei, September 12

Former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian, who has been sentenced to life in prison for graft, was planning to publish his third book penned while in detention, a report said today.

Chen has become a popular author during his time behind bars while on trial with his two previous books — “Taiwan’s Cross” and “Voices that Can’t Be Shut In” — topping the local bestseller charts with total sales of more than 90,000 copies, the local Apple Daily said.

The ex-leader was working on his third, tentatively titled “America’s Red Line,” on the intricate relations between Taiwan, China, the United States and Japan, the report said, a day after Chen was sentenced to life. Chen, who stepped down in May last year, had blasted his graft trial as a vendetta triggered by his eight years in power when he was pursuing independence from China. Chen detailed his regret in not achieving independence from China in his second book released in April — a collection of 50 letters he wrote to himself, his family as well as local and Chinese leaders.

“You didn’t declare Taiwan independent and hold a referendum on independence. You could have done it but you didn’t and you let the Taiwanese people down,” Chen wrote, addressing himself.

In the letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, he claimed that Beijing “dared not” deal with his government because of his persistence on Taiwan’s sovereignty and accused his successor Ma Ying-jeou of being soft on China.

In his 246-page “Taiwan’s Cross”, Chen proclaimed his innocence while recounting his student days when, he said, he began his life-long campaign to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty. Taiwan and China split in 1949 but Beijing still sees the island as part of its territory to be retaken, by force if necessary.