A 60-year-old former executive at a biomedical foundation crashed his sedan into gate No. 3 of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) official residence in Taipei yesterday to draw attention to his concerns about major medical malpractices, police said.
Chen Ping-sung (陳柄菘) rammed his car into the gate of Chunghsing Apartment (中興寓所) at 7:10am yesterday, according to a statement from the Taipei City Police Department.
The car came to a stop in front of the gate after one of its front tires was pierced by road spikes. A can of red paint that Chen had attached to the vehicle’s front bumper burst open, splashing onto the gate, the police said.
Photo: CNA
No one was injured and the gate remains intact, they added.
Chen was detained by police officers at the gate. He was released on NT$20,000 bail in the afternoon after being questioned by prosecutors.
Wearing handcuffs and a helmet, Chen was silent as he arrived at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office at 11am and was asked by reporters what he had to say and why he had tried to ram the residence.
According to a statement from the police department’s press office, Chen tried to drive his car into the residence to express his discontent over what he perceives as institutionalized medical malpractices, citing the title of an open letter to the public that he posted on Facebook in September.
In the letter, Chen said that the bureaucratic medical system conducts nine major malpractices that cost patients their lives and urged the public not to remain silent anymore.
The arrogance and prejudice inherent in the bureaucratic medical system stem from a belief in the power of chemical medicines, he said.
However, these medicines damage patients’ immune system and organ functions, making them weak instead of saving their lives, Chen said, advocating the use of natural medicines instead.
Chen added that no matter how hard he had tried over the past years to make his concerns heard by placing advertisements in newspapers and filing petitions with government agencies, he could not bring public attention to the issue.
At the time of the incident, the president was safe inside the building and was informed immediately after it happened, Presidential Office spokesperson Ma Wei-kuo (馬瑋國) said, adding that the presidential security detail has elevated its level of protection around the president.
The Presidential Office respects citizens’ rights to express their views, but condemns any such expression that takes on a violent form, the spokesperson said.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
RSS