President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday reiterated that the question of whether former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) should be released on medical parole is not a political issue, but a legal and medical one.
Granting Chen medical parole is not a political decision, but a special pardon is, he said, adding that anyone released on medical parole is actually free and can stay in a hospital or at home.
“It actually means being released from prison,” he said in an exclusive interview with CNA.
He said that medical parole is only granted on medical grounds. Only those who cannot receive appropriate treatment in prison can be released on bail for medical treatment, he said.
“There must be a doctor’s -diagnosis that a patient cannot be treated properly in prison,” Ma said.
The issue has been in the public eye for several days, with diehard supporters of Chen — who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year jail sentence for corruption — calling for a special pardon for the former president, who led the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in defeating the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the 2000 presidential election to end more than 50 years of KMT rule in Taiwan.
Recently, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), a KMT member, called on authorities to consider Chen’s medical parole case from a more lenient point of view.
He expressed hope that granting Chen medical parole would mend cracks in society caused by inter-party conflicts.
Hau said yesterday he respected Ma’s explanation of what medical parole means, but added that the Ministry of Justice should organize a medical group and commission to evaluate Chen’s health.
This, he said, is the only way to win public trust.
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) yesterday described Hau’s public endorsement of the pan-green proposal as “jumping into a fire pit, while getting burned in the process.”
“To me, the move was a make-or-break situation for Hau, who thought he could bring reconciliation between the two camps simply by jumping into the fire pit and shouting a few words. In the end, he got himself burned,” Hu said.
Dismissing Hu’s remarks, Hau said he was not of the opinion that seeking political rapprochement was a fire pit, but added that he was willing to accept any consequences if it turned out to be one.
The DPP yesterday urged Ma to deliberate on the issue of Chen’s medical parole “from a broader and a higher perspective.”
“Medical parole is not only an issue of medical care and law, but also a political and social issue,” DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
Public opinion polls showed that more than half of Taiwanese agree that the government should carefully handle the case of Chen’s release for medical treatment, Lin said.
“We urge Ma to approach the issue from a broader and a higher perspective,” he said.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang and Stacy Su
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS