The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would file a lawsuit against Minister of Justice Tseng Yung-fu (曾勇夫) for fraud, assault and coercion following a dispute between DPP lawmakers and Tseng over the abrupt transfer of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) from Taipei to a Taichung prison hospital.
The Ministry of Justice relocated Chen from Taipei Veterans General Hospital to Taichung Prison’s Pei-te Hospital in Greater Taichung on Friday morning, without giving prior notice to Chen or his family.
Later that day, incensed DPP lawmakers interrupted a press conference at the ministry before charging into Tseng’s office and demanding an explanation. During the incident, DPP Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) kicked the door open, damaging it in the process.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
DPP Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡), a former judge, told a press conference yesterday that the ministry has failed to fulfill its obligation to protect Chen, who is serving a 20-year sentence for corruption and has been battling numerous health problems, including severe depression.
“This malfeasance pretty much constitutes assault,” Wu said, adding that the ministry was also guilty of coercion because it had relocated Chen at 5am in the morning without notifying the ex-president or his family.
DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-jin (葉宜津) said the party caucus would because Tseng’s secretary had told the DPP lawmakers that the minister was out of the office, when Tseng had actually been hiding in the office with the lights off.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the ministry both responded to the incident, with Ma saying it was a matter of “obstructing an officer in the discharge of his duties,” which is an offense.
The Taipei Prosecutors’ Office launched an investigation into the incident yesterday and may prosecute the lawmakers.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers urged Tseng to file a defamation lawsuit against the DPP lawmakers, who called Tseng a “chicken.”
DPP Legislator Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) said that differences of opinion between the legislative and administrative branch were common and lawmakers should not be punished for trying to communicate with the ministry.
Lee also said he suspected that the ministry had not intended to make a move until Ma commented on the matter, which “indicated that Ma was interfering with the judiciary, which is a violation of the Constitution.”
Meanwhile, debate over whether Chen — who has been diagnosed with severe depression, sleep apnea, non-typical Parkinson’s disease, a speech disorder and mild cerebral atrophy — should be granted medical parole continued yesterday during a meeting of the legislature’s Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
KMT Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) asked Tseng to broadcast video footage played on television news channels showing Chen walking in a yard of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital.
Tseng said local TV stations and the ministry’s Agency of Corrections had both shot the footage. The minister broadcast three videos during the meeting.
DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said the ministry had seriously undermined Chen’s human rights and medical welfare, and was Ma’s “lackey.”
The legislator asked Tseng why he did not show footage of KMT Taipei City Councilor Lai Su-ju’s (賴素如) life in a detention center.
Lai has been detained for allegedly accepting bribes in the bidding for the Taipei Twin Towers.
Tseng said the Chen footage was shown because it concerns public affairs and could give the public “correct” information about Chen’s condition.
DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said Chen told him in the prison hospital that in two days, only an orthopedist had visited him, but Tseng said Chen’s medical team consists of 11 doctors who provided him with the best possible care.
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
‘RELATIVELY STRONG LANGUAGE’: An expert said the state department has not softened its language on China and was ‘probably a little more Taiwan supportive’ China’s latest drills near Taiwan on Monday were “brazen and irresponsible threats,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Tuesday, while reiterating Washington’s decades-long support of Taipei. “China cannot credibly claim to be a ‘force for stability in a turbulent world’ while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan,” the unnamed spokesperson said in an e-mailed response to media queries. Washington’s enduring commitment to Taiwan will continue as it has for 45 years and the US “will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China’s military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign,” the e-mail said. “Alongside our international partners, we firmly
KAOHSIUNG CEREMONY: The contract chipmaker is planning to build 5 fabs in the southern city to gradually expand its 2-nanometer chip capacity Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday confirmed that it plans to hold a ceremony on March 31 to unveil a capacity expansion plan for its most advanced 2-nanometer chips in Kaohsiung, demonstrating its commitment to further investment at home. The ceremony is to be hosted by TSMC cochief operating officer Y.P. Chyn (秦永沛). It did not disclose whether Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) and high-ranking government officials would attend the ceremony. More details are to be released next week, it said. The chipmaker’s latest move came after its announcement earlier this month of an additional US$100 billion
COUNTERING THE PLA: While the US should reinforce its relations with partners and allies, Taiwan must invest in strengthening its defenses as well, Phillip Davidson said If influence in the Indo-Pacific region is one of the US’ core interests, then Taiwan serves as a cornerstone of US economic and security influence in the region, former US Indo-Pacific Command commander admiral Phillip Davidson said on Thursday. “China’s ... strategy is to supplant the US leadership role in the international order ... and they’ve long said ... that they intend to do that by 2050,” Davidson told the National Review Institute’s Ideas Summit in Washington. Davidson said he had previously told US Senate hearings on China’s military activities and possible threats in the Indo-Pacific region that a Chinese invasion of