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TAIPEI - 'CHAOS' has been picked by the Taiwanese as the character for 2008 after a turbulent year marred by high-profile corruption scandals implicating former president Chen Shui-bian and top officials.
Among 61,600 people who took part in a telephone poll, nearly 8,000 voted for the Chinese character 'luan' (chaos), followed by 'pian' (lie) and 'tsang' (miserable), said the United Daily News, a co-organiser of the survey.
Also on the list of the top 10 annual characters were 'corrupt', 'depressed' and 'love' - the only positive word of the year.
'Those grey words were chosen as the year was marked by a shift in political powers, the global financial crisis... and soap opera-like scandals implicating the former first family,' the paper said.
'Most of the people were feeling out of breath from the political, economic and social pressures,' it said.
Last week Chen was indicted with 13 other people, including his wife and son, on charges of embezzlement and money laundering in a case that has captivated Taiwan for months.
Prosecutors say that Chen, the first former president to face trial here, and his wife, Wu Shu-chen, made illegal gains of US$45 million (S$65.5 million) from embezzling public funds and taking bribes from local businessmen.
Chen, who frequently irked China with his pro-independence rhetoric, has repeatedly accused the island's current China-friendly Kuomintang government of mounting a witch-hunt against him.
He left office in May after serving two four-year terms frequently rocked by large-scale protests.
A string of corruption scandals implicating the ex-leader and top government officials have tarnished his Democratic Progressive Party's image and played a part in its defeat in the March presidential vote. -- AFP
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