US Congressional Subcommittee on Asia chairman Steve Chabot is hoping to meet with former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) late next week.
It will be the strongest show of US political support for Chen to date.
Chabot, a major backer of Taiwan in the US Congress, is scheduled to leave for Asia this weekend, visiting South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
He is trying to make arrangements to meet Chen next Friday.
“I believe that former president Chen Shui-bian has been incarcerated long enough,” said Chabot, a founding member of the Taiwan caucus.
“The humanitarian thing to do would be to let Chen go home,” he said. “However many years he has left, he should be able to spend that time with his family.”
Answering questions about Chen following a meeting of the Asia subcommittee on Thursday, Chabot said: “Keeping him in prison for a day longer is unnecessary, wrongheaded and inhumane.”
“He should be returned home at this point,” he said.
Chabot said the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had sent him copies of the charges against Chen and the court judgement in his case.
“I read them. I read the reports and they didn’t change my mind at all,” Chabot said.
“Chen has been incarcerated far too long,” he said. “As far as I am concerned, I think it amounts to the criminalization of politics.”
“I am not justifying or condoning what President Chen was accused of, but whatever he did he has been in jail far too long, especially when you consider his physical and mental condition at this time,” Chabot said. “The humanitarian thing to do is to allow him to go home and be with his family.”
“I would hope that Taiwan, being a humanitarian country, a good ally, a strong ally of the United States and generally doing the right thing, does the right thing in this case too,” he said.
The Congressman refused to say what action he would take if the Ma administration continues to refuse to grant Chen medical parole.
However, Chabot is deeply and emotionally committed to helping Chen and two political sources close to him said that he would not let the case drop and was prepared to take further action.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
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
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS