The suicide attempt earlier this week by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was a direct result of inadequate medical treatment, the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) said.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, FAPA expressed its “deep concern” for what it called “this further downturn” in Chen’s health.
“This serious deterioration is primarily due to the fact that the former president has received inadequate medical care since he was moved to Pei Teh Prison in Taichung on April 19,” the statement said.
The Taiwanese-American “grassroots organization” is meeting with members of the US Congress this week to help organize a protest about Chen’s living conditions.
“This is apparently the third or fourth time that the former president has attempted to take his own life,” the statement said.
Before being relocated to Taichung Prison’s Pei Teh Hospital, Chen, serving a 20-year sentence for corruption, was being treated at Taipei Veterans General Hospital where — according to FAPA — he received treatment for his medical and psychiatric ailments.
FAPA said that at Pei Teh Hospital there is no medical team to help Chen and he has received no treatment for depression.
Several members of the US Congress have already urged President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to grant medical parole so that Chen can either go home to be treated or be sent to a residential hospital where psychiatric care is available.
“FAPA will continue to work with the US Congress and the [US President Barack] Obama administration to make it clear to the Taiwan authorities that continued imprisonment of Chen is severely damaging the international image of Taiwan as a free and democratic nation,” the statement said. “Release on medical parole is the only humanitarian and responsible solution.”
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
DIPLOMACY: It is Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo’s first visit to Taiwan since he took office last year, while Eswatini’s foreign minister is also paying a visit A delegation led by Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo arrived in Taiwan yesterday afternoon and is to visit President William Lai (賴清德) today. The delegation arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 4:55pm, and was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). It is Arevalo’s first trip to Taiwan since he took office last year, and following the visit, he is to travel to Japan to celebrate the 90th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Arevalo said at the airport that he is very glad to make the visit to Taiwan, adding that he brings an important message of responsibility
About 3,000 people gathered at events in Taipei yesterday for an annual candlelight vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, a brutal crackdown by Chinese authorities on a student-led demonstration in Beijing on June 4 36 years ago. A candlelight vigil organized by the New School for Democracy and other human rights groups began at 7pm on Democracy Boulevard outside Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with the theme "Resist Transnational Repression, Defy Totalitarianism." At about 8pm, organizers announced that about 3,000 people had attended the event, which featured brief speeches by human rights advocates from Taiwan and China, including Hong Kong, as well
RSS