US Republican Representative Steve Chabot met with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday to discuss former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) condition.
Chabot and fellow US Representative Eni Faleomavaega visited Chen, who is serving a 20-year jail sentence for corruption, in Taichung Prison’s Pei Teh Hospital on Thursday.
Chabot said that during the visit Chen’s hands visibly shook and he stuttered when he spoke, adding that he and Faleomavaega were very worried about his situation.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Chen has been diagnosed with depression, sleep apnea, non-typical Parkinson’s disease, a speech disorder and mild cerebral atrophy.
Faleomavaega added that while he is not a doctor, it was evident to him that Chen was not in good physical condition.
Sources said that Chabot said to Su yesterday during their meeting that Chen’s contribution to the advances of Taiwanese democracy should not be forgotten.
Chabot said that as Chen’s friend, he was worried and said that Chen’s human rights should be respected.
Chabot said that because he has no right to interfere in Taiwan’s judicial procedures, he was merely offering his personal viewpoint.
In response to media queries after a meeting with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday afternoon, Chabot said that US representatives cannot tell Taiwan what to do, but “we think there is a humanitarian way to resolve the situation, and we would like to see that happen.”
“Ultimately, it’s up to the leadership in Taiwan to make that decision,” he added.
Separately yesterday, French political economist Guy Sorman, said in a speech in Taipei, hosted by former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) Thinking Taiwan Foundation, that he was sad to see that as a democratic country, Taiwan has imprisoned a former president.
Sorman said that he was not familiar with the case and has no intention of interfering in Taiwanese politics, but added that he hopes that the nation’s democratic achievements could serve as a model for China.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS