Former superintendent of Taipei's Veterans General Hospital Chang Mau-song (張茂松), who enjoys a close relationship with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), recently hit the headlines after he became the target of corruption allegations.
Chang, a famous cardiologist with a good reputation throughout the country, was born on Jan. 12, 1942. After graduating from the National Defense Medical Center in 1967, he joined the Veterans General Hospital in 1972.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Eight years later, Chang became the director of the hospital's Department of Heart Functions and an assistant professor at National Yang-Ming University's Medical School.
In 1982, he was promoted to chief cardiologist of the department of cardiology at the hospital's Taichung branch. In the meantime, he married Chou Jo-hua (周若華), the daughter of Chou Chi-hsun (周濟勳) who was then superintendent of the Veterans General Hospital.
Two years later, he was again promoted and transferred back to Taipei as the hospital's chief cardiologist. In 1989, he became a professor at Yang-Ming University's Medical School. In 1994, he was promoted to director of the medical school.
In 1995, Chang was again promoted and he became the deputy superintendent of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital this time.
In 1997, he became the dean of Yang-Ming University's Medical School and only a year after that, Chang took over the superintendent's office at the Veterans General Hospital and the vice president's office at the National Yang-Ming University.
When Chang became superintendent, he also became one of former president Lee Teng-hui's most-trusted medical doctors and often provided consultant services to Lee.
After Lee retired in 2000, he and his wife Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠) still visited Chang regularly at the hospital for regular health check-ups.
Chang well-served the former first family and Lee once said, "Chang did take good care of me and my wife."
Recently, however Chang has found himself the target of some fierce criticism.
On April 23, DPP legislators Lee Chen-nan (李鎮楠) and Charles Chiang (江昭儀) first made their accusation against Chang at a press conference.
According to the lawmakers, Chang was the only person at the hospital to have access to a secret NT$300 million fund called the "Jung-kwang Fund."
Lee and Chiang said that as a superintendent of the hospital, Chang was responsible for explaining what was happening with the fund, something the lawmakers claimed he had failed to do. In addition, Lee and Chiang said, Chang had a duty to determine whether the fund was illegal.
The DPP lawmakers also accused Chang of accepting bribes from medical equipment and drug manufacturers, while also claiming Chang hired a friend to handle the money for him.
According to Lee and Chiang, the hospital's chief accountant Yi Ping-tung (易屏東) -- recently promoted to the position of chief secretary and personal aide to Chang -- was the person taking care of the bribe money for Chang.
Chang resigned his post as the superintendent of the hospital on the same day as the press conference. His position was taken over by Deputy Superintendent L Liang-shong (
The Shihlin District Prosecu-tors' Office also decided on the same day to begin an investigation into the corruption accusations under Prosecutor Chou Miao-jan's (卓繆然) command.
In addition to the NT$300-million fund, Chang is also under suspicion of laundering another NT$3.6 billion and depositing the money into bank accounts in the US.
The Shihlin District Court immediately approved Chou's request to ban Chang and Yi from traveling outside the country on April 23. However, by that time Yi had already fled to China.
Prosecutors have not yet filed a request to detain Chang, much to the annoyance of Lee and Chiang.
Lee and Chiang held another press conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday morning and said that the Cabinet's Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen, the Ministry of National Defense and prosecutors owed the public a clear explanation over the investigation.
"Obviously, Yi fled on purpose. Why haven't prosecutors issued a warrant for his arrest?" Lee said.
Lee said that both the commission and defense ministry are close to the hospital and it is impossible that none of the officials at these two government offices know nothing about Chang's alleged embezzlement.
In addition, the retired serviceman commission is the superior government office of the hospital. "Why did it approve Chang's resignation without any hesitation? After all, Chang is a famous cardiologist with a good reputation. It is not logical, is it?" Lee said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai