Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was yesterday transferred to Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH) from Taoyuan General Hospital for further check-ups and treatments. The transfer to the TVGH was met with objections by Chen’s family, who said the hospital was “politically affiliated” with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), his son, said the family would prefer that the former president be taken to Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei or to a hospital in southern Taiwan.
Chen Shui-bian, who arrived at the TVGH at 7:30am yesterday, refused to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test that the TVGH has arranged for him.
Photo: CNA
Chen Shui-bian later agreed to take the medical tests only after being comforted by TVGH physician Kuo Cheng-deng (郭正典) — who, at the request of the Chen family, has previously visited the former president at the Taoyuan General Hospital to examine his condition — in which Kuo said he would accompany the former president during the whole medical process.
Chen Tain-hsiung (陳天雄), TVGH’s vice superintendent, said the hospital has assigned a team comprising at least 10 urologists, neurologists and psychiatrists to examine the former president.
The examination would focus on his brain, cerebrovascular system and urinary tract using non-invasive methods such as MRI scans and ultrasounds, Chen Tain-hsiung said.
The former president, who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption, was admitted to Taoyuan General Hospital on Sept. 12 after complaining of having difficulty urinating.
An MRI conducted at the Taoyuan hospital showed he had had a minor stroke.
Based on a recommendation by the Taoyuan General Hospital, the Ministry of Justice decided to transfer him to a different medical center for further examination.
Separately yesterday, human rights activists Hans Wahl and Harreld Dinkins, who arrived in Taipei to access the state of Chen Shui-bian’s human rights, held a press conference before leaving the country.
Dinkins said he was shocked by Chen’s slurred and unfocused speech and the unusual level of fatigue he showed during their 20–minute-long exchanges.
They also expressed concern over the selection of the TVGH because they had doubts over the facility’s independence given that it is a military hospital. In response to the Chen’s objections, Taipei Prison said in a statement yesterday that the TVGH has no political affiliation, adding that the hospital was selected mainly because it has advanced equipment and services, pointing out that former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) has also been treated at the hospital.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
RSS