Two US lawmakers have submitted a medical report calling for immediate medical parole for former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
“Because it is not easily predictable how much Chen’s incarceration conditions need to improve to prevent further serious physical and mental damage, medical parole is the most appropriate effective treatment intervention,” the report said.
It was written by former medical professor Joseph Lin and current medical professors Ken Yoneda and Charles Whitcomb of the University of California.
They visited Chen in prison in Taiwan about a month ago.
The medical team also said there were “compelling humanitarian grounds” for releasing Chen.
“We went to Taiwan as private neutral American citizens, concerned about reports on the medical condition of President Chen,” Lin said.
“We came back convinced that the conditions of his confinement are utterly unacceptable having caused extreme mental stress and serious medical symptoms, some potentially life-threatening,” he said.
Lin said that Chen’s mental state was “particularly worrisome.”
The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission was formed by the US Congress and is currently co-chaired by Republican Representative Frank Wolf and Democratic Representative James McGovern.
Democratic Representative Robert Andrews and Republican Representative Dan Lungren formally submitted the report to the commission.
The doctors hope that the commission will convene a hearing on Chen’s case and strongly urge President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to grant medical parole.
“Taiwanese Americans are outraged by the treatment of former president Chen,” Formosan Association for Public Affairs president Mark Kao (高龍榮) said.
“The deterioration in Chen’s physical and mental health is becoming increasingly disturbing to more and more members of Congress,” Kao said.
“To safeguard the welfare of the former president, prevent the deepening of social conflict and preserve Taiwan’s status as a democratic, rights-respecting country, the Ma administration must act immediately,” he added.
Former co-chair of the Taiwan Caucus Representative Steve Chabot said during a recent US congressional hearing that Chen’s incarceration was a “tragedy.”
Saying the charges against Chen amounted to a “criminalization of politics,” he compared Taiwan to a “banana republic.”
Earlier this week, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) joined a signature drive to request medical parole for Chen, adding that he had written letters asking the public and DPP lawmakers, as well as city and county councilors, to support the drive.
It was the first time that Su has taken a public stance on the signature drive that was launched by National Taiwan University doctor Ko Wen-che (柯文哲), medical professionals and pro-DPP groups earlier this year.
Additional reporting by CNA
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS