A Chinese woman who claims she is endowed with a special gift that allows her to heal others was deported from Taiwan yesterday.
Zhang Ying (張穎), 40, was deported for practicing medicine in violation of the stated purpose of her visit. She entered Taiwan in late 2000 to visit her mother-in-law.
Claiming that she possesses the power to produce medicinal powder in her palm out of thin air, Zhang aroused a great deal of interest and debate in Taiwan after being interviewed by the media and after she gave a demonstration of her "extraordinary power."
While some people said they were amazed by her power, others claimed that she is just a quack and that her so-called "power" to produce medicine is only a sleight-of-hand trick that is used to fool people into believing she has extraordinary powers.
The Prosecutors' Office for the Taipei District Court decided to launch a case against Zhang, with investigations uncovering that she had charged her patients between NT$6,000 and NT$10,000 for each "medical" session, despite not having a license to practice medicine.
On April 25, the court convicted Zhang, sentencing her to 13 months in prison and five years of probation, with the judge concluding that Zhang operated "with the intention to cheat others by using obviously wrong ideas" and required long-term psychological therapy.
Chen Hung-ta (
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