Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had successful hemorrhoid surgery yesterday at the Taipei Veterans Hospital (TVGH), TVGH president Lin Fang-yu (林芳郁) said yesterday.
The former president is recovering well, Lin told the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
Lin said that Chen, serving a 20-year sentence for corruption, had been well taken care of at TVGH, where he has been staying over the last few months for treatment of various conditions.
Lin said he visited Chen two days ago and confirmed that the former president was suffering from depression, stuttering and symptoms of other chronic neurological diseases.
However, Chen does not have dementia nor spinocerebellar atrophy, a progressive degenerative disease that the former president’s private medical team thought he may be suffering from.
The private medical team feared that Chen, who has fallen four times in his room during his time at TVGH, had a balance disorder, which could be the result of brain damage.
Lin declined to comment on whether Chen’s health qualified him for medical parole, saying that a report would be released in a week or two which would be unbiased and free from political interference.
Former first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) visited Chen at the TVGH yesterday and said she believed the hospital would present a professional medical report.
Asked about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) refusal to grant her husband medical parole, Wu said she had no idea about the latest developments and that reporters should “pose the question to Ma.”
Additional reporting by Staff writer
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