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.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS