Ranking member of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee US Representative Howard Berman has written to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to appeal for the medical parole of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
“Releasing Chen from prison on humanitarian grounds would allow him to receive the thorough, long-term medical treatment that he needs and would aid in his physical and mental recovery,” the letter says.
It was written as Berman, a Democrat from California, becomes increasingly involved in a bitter re-election battle with fellow Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman. Berman, 71, and Sherman, 57, are fighting for the same Los Angeles-area seat as a result of their separate districts being combined in a restructuring plan for the state’s political boundaries.
In what has become one of the highest-spending US House of Representatives races in the nation, the two veteran Congressmen almost came to blows during one recent debate and a sheriff’s deputy had to come between them.
According to one report, Sherman aggressively seized Berman by the shoulder as they discussed immigration and shouted into his face: “You want to get into this?”
Small and frail, Berman was clearly shaken. In an effort to win support from voter groups, Berman has turned to the large numbers of Taiwanese-Americans in the Los Angeles area. Over the past few years, he has regularly backed pro-Taiwanese issues before the Foreign Affairs Committee and taken time to speak at Taiwanese-American meetings.
The release of Chen on medical grounds is a popular issue with Taiwanese-Americans. In his letter to Ma, Berman mentions recent reports of Chen’s deteriorating health and says one should “consider the possibility of directly intervening in this matter, based on empathy and compassion.”
“Your action on behalf of Chen would be seen by the rest of the world as magnanimously transcending politics and could mitigate any tensions in Taiwan over this situation,” he wrote.
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
Taiwan and Thailand have signed an agreement to promote and protect bilateral investment and trade, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations (OTN) said on Friday. The agreement on “Promotion and Protection of Investments” was signed by Representative to Thailand Chang Chun-fu (張俊福) and Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei executive director Narong Boonsatheanwong on Thursday, the OTN said in a news release. Thailand has become the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, the OTN said. The deal marks a significant milestone in the development of
The entire Alishan Forest Railway line is to reopen for the first time in 15 years on Saturday, with tickets to go on sale at 2pm today. The historic railway from Chiayi to Alishan (阿里山) is finally set to reopen after the completion of the final No. 42 tunnel, Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office Deputy Director-General Chou Heng-kai (周恆凱) said. It is to run on a new timetable, with four trains daily, he said. The 9am train is to depart from Chiayi Railway Station bound for Shizilu Station (十字路), while the 10am train departing from Chiayi is to go all the
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we