Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) should be allowed to attend and speak at a fundraising event in Taipei tonight, pro-independence groups said yesterday, following a report that a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight had sought to prevent Chen from making a public appearance.
Taiwan Society chairman Chang Yeh-sen (張葉森) told an impromptu news conference in Taipei that DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) visited Chen at the former president’s residence in Kaohsiung on Wednesday night to convince him not to attend the event and instead make a video address.
Chen, who served more than six years of a 20-year prison term on several convictions for corruption before his release on medical parole in 2015, planned to attend a Ketagalan Foundation dinner.
Photo: CNA
Ker has served as an intermediary between Chen and Taichung Prison, the judicial authority for Chen’s parole.
Citing Janice Chen (陳昭姿), a member of Chen Shui-bian’s volunteer civilian medical team who spoke with the former president on Wednesday, Chang said Chen Shui-bian was distressed by Ker’s visit, but it remains unclear whether he would accept Ker’s suggestion.
Chang criticized Minister of Justice Chiu Tai-san (邱太三), saying the Ministry of Justice had not approved Chen Shui-bian’s appearance at the event, which was a violation of his medical rights.
Chen Shiu-bian has suffered from severe depression, and interpersonal interactions could help improve his condition, but the ministry has denied him a chance for recovery, Chang said.
“The government has sought to attend the World Health Assembly to ensure the medical rights of its people, but it has failed to take care of the well-being of a former president, which is infuriating,” he said.
The ministry has “threatened” Chen Shui-bian against attending the dinner, but a 10-minute speech by the former president would not cost anything, Union of Taiwanese Teachers director-general Hsiao Hsiao-ling (蕭曉玲) said.
Chen Shui-bian applied with Taichung Prison as early as last month, Taiwan Society Hakka deputy chairman Hsu Kuo-chang (徐國昌) said, adding that the ministry should not interfere with his medical care.
They called for Chiu to resign if Chen Shui-bian is not allowed to attend the dinner, urging President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to pardon the former president, who they said was falsely convicted as part of a political persecution.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS