Supporters of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and his family are descending on Greater Taichung to protest a hospital checkup today for Chen’s wife, former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍).
The checkup, to be conducted at Pei Teh Hospital — a part of Taichung Prison — will determine whether she is fit to serve the prison sentence of 17-and-a-half years she received for taking bribes and laundering the money.
The family’s supporters and several pro-independence groups say that the former first lady is too frail to spend time in prison and argue that there is a clear precedent for lax treatment for prisoners with ill health.
Wu was paralyzed after being run over three times during a political event for her husband in 1985. Family members say she needs a helper around the clock and cannot take care of herself.
Sources said that more than 10 pro-independence groups will take part in the protest, including the Northern Taiwan Society and the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan — an overwhelming response given that some organizers had initially pegged a limited turnout of no more than 100 people.
Officials at the Northern Taiwan Society say they now expect between 500 and 1,000 supporters to descend on the prison this morning.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors are also expected to play a prominent role in organizing the protest through the informal “One Side, One Country” alliance of which the former first couple’s son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), is a part. The DPP officially has steered clear of endorsing the event.
“People who are Taiwanese will naturally come out and voice their support [for Wu],” said Chou Chung-teh (周崇德), the head of the 908 Taiwan Republic Alliance, which is planning for 200 protesters from central Taiwan to attend.
Chou compared the judicial proceedings, which have been confirmed by the Supreme Court, to “murder,” saying it represents a political agenda against the former first family. Chen Shui-bian and Wu are currently on trial in three other cases for allegedly being involved in illegal land deals and embezzling secret diplomatic funds.
Up to 400 people are also expected to travel by bus from the south, spurred by remarks by several politicians, including DPP Greater Kaohsiung Councilor Cheng Hsin-chu (鄭新助), who on Monday called Wu’s treatment an “insult to all Taiwanese.”
In response, police have already begun to deploy barricades outside the prison, while ingoing and outgoing vehicles at the complex will be limited, police officials said. Up to 300 officers will be deployed.
Prosecutors have said that neither hand nor ankle cuffs will be required as Wu is taken to the hospital, a move that will likely assuage the protesters following the treatment afforded to the former president when he underwent a medical exam last month.
She is expected to arrive just after 10am, after first reporting to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office at 8am. Sources say it is still unclear what the course of action would be should she fail the medical.
Right-wing political scientist Laura Fernandez on Sunday won Costa Rica’s presidential election by a landslide, after promising to crack down on rising violence linked to the cocaine trade. Fernandez’s nearest rival, economist Alvaro Ramos, conceded defeat as results showed the ruling party far exceeding the threshold of 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. With 94 percent of polling stations counted, the political heir of outgoing Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves had captured 48.3 percent of the vote compared with Ramos’ 33.4 percent, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal said. As soon as the first results were announced, members of Fernandez’s Sovereign People’s Party
EMERGING FIELDS: The Chinese president said that the two countries would explore cooperation in green technology, the digital economy and artificial intelligence Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday called for an “equal and orderly multipolar world” in the face of “unilateral bullying,” in an apparent jab at the US. Xi was speaking during talks in Beijing with Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi, the first South American leader to visit China since US special forces captured then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month — an operation that Beijing condemned as a violation of sovereignty. Orsi follows a slew of leaders to have visited China seeking to boost ties with the world’s second-largest economy to hedge against US President Donald Trump’s increasingly unpredictable administration. “The international situation is fraught
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
GROWING AMBITIONS: The scale and tempo of the operations show that the Strait has become the core theater for China to expand its security interests, the report said Chinese military aircraft incursions around Taiwan have surged nearly 15-fold over the past five years, according to a report released yesterday by the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of China Affairs. Sorties in the Taiwan Strait were previously irregular, totaling 380 in 2020, but have since evolved into routine operations, the report showed. “This demonstrates that the Taiwan Strait has become both the starting point and testing ground for Beijing’s expansionist ambitions,” it said. Driven by military expansionism, China is systematically pursuing actions aimed at altering the regional “status quo,” the department said, adding that Taiwan represents the most critical link in China’s
RSS