Dismissing the Ministry of Justice’s statement that former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will have an exclusive 243 ping (803m2) area in Taichung Prison’s Pei Teh Hospital, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday quoted Chen as saying that what he really needs is medical care.
“It means nothing even if the entire Taichung Prison was at my disposal, because what I desperately need is medical care,” Su quoted Chen as saying after visiting the former president.
Su quoted Chen as saying that he originally held high hopes for being granted medical parole or home-based convalescence given the diagnosis of his ailments at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.
Chen has been diagnosed with severe depression, sleep apnea, non-typical Parkinson’s disease, a speech disorder and mild cerebral atrophy.
The DPP said that as Pei Teh only had a support group of physicians from the Taichung Veterans General Hospital and the China Medical University Hospital, and lacked a professional medical team of its own, the choice of hospital could pose a problem for the former president.
It was incomprehensible that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had turned down an opportunity to facilitate social harmony and instead allowed the ministry to make a judgement that went against the professional medical opinion that Chen would be better looked after at home, Su said.
“The DPP will continue exploring substantial ways to assist the former president,” Su added.
Meanwhile, the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs on Friday urged US President Barack Obama and the US Congress to express their “deepest concerns” about the latest developments concerning Chen.
The way the transfer was implemented flies in the face of norms and standards in a democratic country, the association said in a statement.
US Congressman Robert Andrews also wrote a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry saying the US “must clearly express itself in favor of a medical parole on humanitarian grounds.”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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