★  1.  Ruling party   
♦ Washington Post (2024-5-20):  The ruling party (DPP)  has faced corruption scandals.  
♦ Washington Post (2023-11-24):  Public grievances against the ruling party have bubbled up during Tsai's presidency, which has been hit by corruption scandals...   
♦ New York Times (2024-1-10): the frustration voters feel about out-of-control Taiwan ... government corruption. 
♦ According to Transparency International, Germany - Global Corruption Barometer, released in 2022, 90% Taiwanese think government  corruption  is a big problem, this percentage is higher than that in Japan, S. Korea, China and Malaysia.
♦ Financial Times (UK, 2024-9-6): Taiwan slid last year in Transparency International's global corruption perceptions index, and its score dropped slightly for the first time since Lai's DPP predecessor Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.  Opposition accusations of DPP officials abusing their positions and engaging in corruption contributed to Lai receiving the lowest winning vote share in 24 years in a three-way presidential race.
♦ The China Times (Taiwan, 2023-6-26): The ruling party, DPP's corruption was structural, collective and overall (結構性、集體性、全面性貪腐) ;  a bunch of vote-brokers, officials, law makers get involved; DPP's corruption has already crossed the bottom line, and is out of control.

♦ United Daily (Taiwan, 2023-6-26): DPP got involved in many cases such as 光電案、超思進口雞蛋案、小吃店採購快篩案、疫苗案、口罩案...  but the prosecutors has not done anything to them.  Selective handling of cases by double standards, is nothing but political persecution (政治追殺)。

★  2.  Local politicians and high-level politicians 

♦ Diplomat  (2024-9-11): The allegations against the former presidential candidate raise questions about pervasive corruption at all levels of government.  Corruption and patronage, according to How, are “in the DNA” of local politics.  “All the money laundering and things like that can be done by these local officials for their big brothers (legislators) in the legislature” , “Because the local politicians don’t need to make their wealth public.”  “Almost all  [high-level] politicians come from local politics, ”A bottom-up spoils system is thus cultivated"...
♦ After Cheng Wen-tsan (Bloomberg, 2024-7-12: the highest-profile graft probe in the democratically run archipelago since President Chen Shui-bian in 2008. ) was detained,  DPP's factions except Lai's faction  and KMT, TPP should be scary,  according to United Daily (Taiwan, 2024-7-10).

★  3.  Taiwan military

♦ Economist (UK, 2022-8-2): Taiwan needs to do more to combat corruption and waste in its armed forces)。 
♦ Axios (2022-6-28):  Scandals and corruption have plagued the Taiwanese armed forces  axios.com/2022/06/28/taiwan-military-defense-weapons-china-invasion-threat

★  4.  Taiwan judiciary

Why does the prosecution select Ko Wen-je ?? 

Asia Times  (2024-8-23) article "Taiwan's Lai Ching-te consolidating power " already concluded that Cheng's arrest is reflective of an intense intra-DPP political struggle between a pair of long-time rivals.  A tense personal history has pushed Lai Ching-te to “punish” Cheng Wen-tsan after gaining power.  asiatimes.com/2024/08/taiwans-lai-consolidating-power-before-turning-to-china/   Besides, Cheng is widely believed guilty.
But Ko is different (till present 2024-9-18).   Who will have advantage or benefit if Ko goes to jail?

★  1.  Presidential election rival

Council on Foreign relations (2024-9-5): Although Ko lost the 2024 presidential election, he was widely seen as having outperformed expectations and as someone who would again run for president.  Al Jazeera  (2024-9-2):   Ko is widely seen as a contender for the next election in 2028.    SCMP (2024-9-7): “If Ko is found guilty of corruption, it is foreseeable that Ko will have little chance of making a political comeback.”.

★  2.  Power balance

US News & World Report  (2024-9-1), Reuters (2024-9-2): The TPP has only eight lawmakers in Taiwan's 113-seat parliament but has an outsized role as neither the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) nor the largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), has a majority.  Council on Foreign relations (2024-9-5): TPP controls the balance of power. As scrutiny of Ko and the TPP intensify, dynamics in the legislature could shift, with implications for President Lai Ching-te's agenda.   TPP has aligned with the KMT, pushing through a controversial plan to expand the legislature's powers and questioning Lai's proposed policies, including his plan to build additional submarines.  
Asia Nikkei (Japan, 2024-9-5): The TPP's woes come as its coalition with the KMT is locked in a showdown with the DPP.  The opposition has sought to clip the wings of Lai's government, threatening to vote down budgets and public appointments  Asia Nikkei (Japan, 2024-9-11): The TPP and its larger opposition partner, KMT, have been a thorn in the side of the pro-sovereignty Lai's fledgling administration.

Expert says the TPP is essentially a "one-man party" built on Ko's charisma.  This might be a reason the prosecution selects Ko.

★  3.  Law-makers
Council on Foreign relations (2024-9-5):  if these TPP legislators conclude that the TPP's days are numbered, they may become free agents open to working with the DPP.

SCMP (2024-9-7): "If Ko does fall from grace and his party loses support, it could struggle to retain its 5 per cent of the vote for seats in Taiwan's legislature in the 2028 elections", “If it fails to cross the 3 per cent threshold, the TPP could fizzle out like the New Power Party”.

★  4.  Young Taiwanese

Council on Foreign relations (2024-9-5): As a presidential candidate, Ko built a base among energized young Taiwanese, receiving 3.69 million votes (26.5 percent ).  In previous two presidential elections, young Taiwanese were DPP's base.

★  5.  China factor