Lien upset over infection

KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) told party colleagues yesterday that a urinary tract infection that left him hospitalized recently was contracted during a physical exam at National Taiwan University Hospital.

Lien made the comments yesterday during the KMT's Central Standing Committee meeting. His urinary tract became infected during a check-up with his family doctor, Wang Cheng-yi (王正一), at NTU hospital on May 17.

Two days later, Lien checked into Veterans General Hospital (榮民總醫院) with a high fever and in bad physical condition. Doctors later discovered that Lien's urinary tract was infected, and he was hospitalized for 12 days.

Lien told party members yesterday that he believed his infection was caused by a wound received during an examination of his intestines at NTU.

But Wang, who left Taiwan on the night of the check-up, denied that the infection was caused by the examination. The doctor apologized to his patient for not communicating fully with him about the examination, and for leaving the country in Lien's hour of need.

But there was a political benefit to Lien's urinary tract infection, as it presented an opportunity for reconciliation between the KMT and DPP. While the KMT chairman was hospitalized, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) visited Lien -- the first time the two had met since the DPP's abrupt announcement of the cancellation of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, which had created a rift between the two.

During the visit, Chen asked Lien for his support in forming a coalition government at the end of the year and a cross-party economic advisory task force.