Former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) secretary said yesterday that Chen had taken off the cast on his right foot, but was still hobbling when he walks.
Chiang Chih-ming (江志銘) said the former president no longer needed the cast for tendonitis in the foot, and did not need a wheelchair.
However, Chen still walks with a bit of a limp, so he may not be able to get much exercise at the detention center, Chiang said.
Last week Chen was diagnosed by Taipei Detention Center physicians with tendonitis in his right foot, caused by abnormal bone growth.
He wore a cast and used a wheelchair when he appeared at Taipei District Court last week for his corruption trial.
The former president, who has been held at the detention center since December, received visits from former college classmates yesterday.
Chen was glad to see his old friends, but said that because he had difficulty walking and exercising, he asked friends and family to refrain from giving him too much food, otherwise he might put on too much weight, Chiang said.
The former president’s daughter, Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤), son Chen Chih-chung (陳致中) and son-in-law Chao Chien-ming (趙建銘), as well as former Taipei Financial Center Corp chairwoman Diana Chen (陳敏薰) were charged with perjury on Friday.
On the same day, former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) was indicted for perjury after allegedly instructing her children to lie during a probe into the embezzlement charges against her and her husband.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)