A US senator has asked Christopher Marut, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), to visit former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in jail or hospital.
Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, said in a letter sent this week to Marut that Chen is suffering from severe depression and is undergoing psychiatric treatment at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.
It is an obvious attempt by Brown to draw more attention to Chen’s case and increase the pressure on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to grant medical parole for Chen, who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption.
“Reduced to a shadow of his former fiery self, Chen stutters and slurs his speech, and cannot walk far without tripping over,” The Economist magazine reported earlier this month.
“The prison’s harsh standard of treatment, which falls well below international norms, is contributing to serious illness,” the magazine said.
Chen’s continued incarceration, The Economist said, was not only undermining Ma’s “now dangerously low popularity,” but also faith in Taiwan’s system of justice.
“As advocates for human rights, freedom, democracy and the rule of law around the world, it is critical that we continue to support Taiwan,” Brown wrote to Marut.
Brown urged Marut to read a recent independent medical report that details Chen’s failing health and concludes that “in any democracy” this would be sufficient cause for immediate medical parole on humanitarian grounds.
“I ask that you review the report and visit the former president at the appropriate time,” the letter said.
“Senator Brown is a friend of president Chen, whom he has met on multiple occasions in Taiwan over the past decade,” Formosa Association of Public Affairs president Mark Kao (高龍榮) said. “It is touching to see a US senator ... reach out across the globe to a friend in need.”
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all