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.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
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Former Taiwan People’s Party chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) may apply to visit home following the death of his father this morning, the Taipei Detention Center said. Ko’s father, Ko Cheng-fa (柯承發), passed away at 8:40am today at the Hsinchu branch of National Taiwan University Hospital. He was 94 years old. The center said Ko Wen-je was welcome to apply, but declined to say whether it had already received an application. The center also provides psychological counseling to people in detention as needed, it added, also declining to comment on Ko Wen-je’s mental state. Ko Wen-je is being held in detention as he awaits trial
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