Late last month, a man assaulted a clerk at a convenience store in Pingtung County, trying to gouge her eyes out when she reminded him that he had to wear a mask inside the store.
This shocking incident caused an uproar. Although the offender had undergone long-term treatment at a psychiatric hospital, he often returned to his community, where the tragic incident occurred.
What went wrong? Let us look at it from a legal and a practical perspective.
Although Taiwan is not a UN member, human rights are universal, and Taiwan has for years followed the spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to protect their freedom and safety.
The convention says: “States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities … [a]re not deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily, and that any deprivation of liberty is in conformity with the law, and that the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a deprivation of liberty.”
Article 41 of the Mental Health Act (精神衛生法) states: “Regarding severe patients harming others or themselves or having the danger of harm, who have been diagnosed by specialist physicians such that it is necessary for them to be hospitalized full day, their protectors shall assist the severe patients to go to psychiatric institutions for going through hospitalization formalities. When the severe patients refuse to accept full day hospitalization, the competent authorities may designate psychiatric institutions to enforce emergency placement and assign them to more than two specialist physicians designated by the competent authorities for mandatory examination.”
It also states: “When there is still necessity of full day hospitalization, and when asked for their opinions the severe patients still refuse to accept hospitalization or are unable to express their decisions, the designated psychiatric institutions shall file application to the Community Treatment Review Committee for its permission of mandatory hospitalization.”
This shows that the strict hospitalization process is to protect the freedom of the disabled person. Does such a process truly safeguard their human rights, or does it delay the best timing for treatment? This issue is open to dispute.
Moreover, Article 38 states: “When patients are in stable conditions or recover and continuous hospitalization is no longer needed, psychiatric institutions shall notify the patients or their protectors for going through discharge formalities, and shall not detain the patients without reasons.”
In practice, people diagnosed with schizophrenia lack insight into their illness, as they are either unaware or unwilling to admit that they are ill. When they return to their community after receiving treatment at a mental hospital, they might stop taking medicine or suspend treatment for fear of the medication’s side effects.
If this happens, it can worsen their illness, and they might no longer distinguish between optical and auditory hallucinations, or other delusions. This makes it difficult for them to make the right judgements. They might even become violent or harm themselves.
Faced with these people refusing to receive treatment or take medication regularly, the authorities, as well as the legislature, should promptly implement rules and set up a mechanism for mandatory treatment.
Legislation should also be passed mandating that patients be given long-acting injections once a month to control their illness. This would not only protect their right to medical treatment and avoid stigmatization, it would also ensure social safety.
Yeh Yu-cheng is a secretary at the Pingtung Public Health Bureau.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of