US Senator Sherrod Brown is urging the administration of US President Barack Obama to become involved in the case of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
Brown has sent a plea for help to US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell.
US representatives Robert Andrews and Dan Lungren last week sent a report calling for medical parole for Chen to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
The report, prepared by a team of independent US doctors who visited Chen in prison last month, says that Chen’s health is deteriorating steadily.
Now Brown has sent the report to Campbell asking him to give it “careful consideration.”
“Earlier this year, the people of Taiwan held national elections,” Brown said in a letter to Campbell.
“As advocates for human rights, freedom, democracy and the rule of law around the world, it is critical that we continue to support Taiwan as it builds a society based on the ideals of freedom we hold so dear,” Brown said.
Commenting on the matter, Formosan Association for Public Affairs president Mark Kao (高龍榮) said: “There is a growing chorus of congressional concern about the deterioration of Chen’s physical and mental health.”
“Senator Brown is one of the strongest and longest Taiwan supporters on Capitol Hill,” he said.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
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