Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) appeared yesterday at Taipei District Court for his corruption trial in a wheelchair and with his foot in a cast.
Chen, whose right foot has been affected by tendinitis caused by abnormal bone growth, told Presiding Judge Tsai Shou-hsun (蔡守訓) that he had been misdiagnosed by the physicians at the Taipei Detention Center.
Chen said he had felt discomfort in his right foot since last Friday, the day of his detention hearing, but because he did not want to delay the hearing, he appeared in court without speaking about his condition.
After he returned to the detention center, he was told by the center’s physician that it was a bone fracture. It was not until Monday afternoon that the doctor changed his diagnosis to tendinitis.
Chen said the physician, whom he called a “quack,” was so unskilled that he needed three attempts to make the cast on his foot, and the result was “uglier than my grandson’s art project.”
Chen asked that the court have him sent to a hospital.
In response, Tsai told Chen that the court would keep an eye on his physical condition and would ask the detention center to do so as well.
Chen has been held in detention since Dec. 30 on corruption charges. On Monday, the district court extended Chen’s detention by two months until the end of September.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is