When Chen was first arrested, I knew things would become nasty quickly, and so they have. I'll try to write a commentary later (after school), but for right now, try reading this bit from the BBC: "Taiwan divided over ex-president's arrest."
My short version: Chen's arrest is now (and perhaps has been from the beginning) not only a matter of his possible involvement in corruption and shady financial dealings. The entire situation pits the IDEA of the DPP against the IDEA of the KMT, and by "KMT" I mean ALL of it, both the shiny new face of it (Ma) and all the long years of bad associations and memories from the KMT's martial-law, one-party-rule past. Some people are seeing Chen's arrest as being politically motivated, and -- coming as it does after the Chen Yunlin visit with its police/crowd disasters and ongoing protests -- it LOOKS bad, regardless of whatever Ma's actual purpose or plan is (assuming that Ma has one).
Chen may not be an angel, but by turning him into a martyr, the KMT has inflamed the situation and made "the two Taiwans" even more volatile.
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