The Control Yuan yesterday approved a report that found “flaws” and “negligence” in the manner in which the Ministry of Justice and Taipei Prison have been handling imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) health problems, but they were not charged with censure.
Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) yesterday finally had his investigation into Chen’s case approved at a meeting of the Committee on Judicial and Prison Administration Affairs — the fourth time that he had attempted to correct the ministry and Taipei Prison.
The Control Yuan’s endorsement of the report came only after Huang gave up trying to launch a censure motion, because he had failed with three previous attempts.
At a press conference where he released a 32-page excerpt of what he said was a report of more than 200 pages, Huang said his investigation, joined by nine leading physicians in their respective fields, called for medical parole to be granted to Chen.
Chen, serving a 18-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption following a controversial trial, has been behind bars for more than four years. He has been hospitalized at Taipei Veterans General Hospital for severe depression, among other ailments, since September last year.
Huang launched an investigation in September last year after National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) filed an appeal to look into the ways in which the judicial system had dealt with Chen’s poor health.
Huang said his team had visited Chen four times over the past several months, the last time being on Sunday, and they found that Chen’s health was deteriorating rapidly.
He showed video footage taken on that day of Chen being asked to perform a walking test, in the presence of several physicians and a Taipei Prison official.
The footage showed that Chen had difficulty walking, he was unable to walk forward when he was told to do so and kept falling down if not being held up, he had difficulty walking in a straight line and struggled to walk with his eyes closed.
Huang said that Chen has serious problems with his hands, which were shaking uncontrollably, and he has a bad stammer.
Chen Rong-chi (陳榮基), a neurologist who was present at the press conference, said that the former president suffers from multi-system lesions in his brain, including in the frontal lobe, in the temporal lobes, in the cerebral white matter beneath the cerebral cortex and in the cerebellum.
“While causes are yet to be determined, [Chen Shui-bian] has brain lesions,” he said.
National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that Chen was close to death.
Neither the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) nor the Democratic Progressive Party needed to worry because Chen would not be able to create problems in national politics if he was released, Ko said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
RSS