The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) has appealed to the White House to help ensure former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) receives the medical care he needs.
In a letter to US President Barack Obama, FAPA president Mark Kao (高龍榮) said that Chen desperately needed medical parole to receive hospital treatment.
Chen is currently serving 17-and-a-half years in prison on two concurrent sentences related to corruption charges.
The letter is FAPA’s latest move as it steps up a campaign to draw attention to what it called Chen’s deteriorating health and “demeaning” living conditions.
Earlier this week, FAPA began organizing US lawmakers to aid Chen.
In his letter to Obama, Kao said: “On behalf of our community we respectfully request that you strongly urge the government of Taiwan to grant former president Chen medical parole in order to receive adequate medical treatment in a timely manner.”
Kao said in a later interview: “We decided to appeal to Obama since we believe that he highly values human rights.”
“Such demeaning conditions as currently being endured by Chen are unprecedented in the treatment of a former head of state of a democratic country,” he said.
“The fact that Chen is held in a damp, undersized cell which he has to share with a cellmate is an obvious attempt by the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to humiliate him,” Kao said, adding that Chen was not allowed a bed, a chair or a desk and had to sit and write on the floor.
“It is not only demeaning to him as a person, but also undermines the quality of the democracy in our homeland. It is reminiscent of the ways the old Chinese emperors dealt with their predecessors,” he said.
“There is no place for this kind of treatment in our modern day and age,” he added.
Chen was recently hospitalized and diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome, significantly reduced blood flow and a prostate tumor.
It was also discovered that he had been receiving anti-anxiety medication for the past 14 months, allegedly without his knowledge or consent.
Chen’s doctors attribute his “degraded physical condition” to an inactive life style and long-term deprivation of sunlight.
The former president is only allowed 30 minutes of outdoor exercise a day.
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
HAN KUANG: The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers said The armed forces would for the first time test new rules of engagement (ROE) at this month’s annual Han Kuang exercises, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers told a news conference in Taipei. ROE cards would be issued to select combat troops to test their ability to function without tight control, they said. The most recent edition of the rules was published last year, they said. One of the cards’ two templates identifies enemy targets that soldiers