Following the announcement of her intention to visit imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to mark International Human Rights Day on Wednesday next week, former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday gave President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) an ultimatum — if he does not release Chen by Christmas Day, she would go on a hunger strike until Chen is released.
Chen is serving a 20-year term for accepting bribes during his eight-year presidency. Suffering from deteriorating health, Chen has not been granted amnesty or home care by Ma, despite repeated appeals by medical experts, human rights advocates and Chen’s supporters.
At a news conference held yesterday at the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Taipei office, Lu announced a list of “visitors” that she hopes will accompany her on Wednesday, including Taoyuan County commissioner-elect Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), Changhua County commissioner-elect Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷), Chiayi mayor-elect Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲), Penghu County commissioner-elect Chen Kuang-fu (陳光復) and Greater Tainan Deputy Mayor Yen Chun-tso (顏純左).
Many of the DPP county commissioners invited have not yet replied, but it is hoped that they would answer the call and seek to appeal to what little conscience Ma has left and save Chen Shui-bian, Lu said.
The past six years of imprisonment have been hard on the former leader and he is very ill, Lu said, adding that given his poor health, the legal cases in which Chen Shui-bian is involved are in limbo because of his inability to appear in court due.
Chen Shui-bian’s condition can wait no longer and the Ma administration should seek to release him on medical parole by Wednesday at the earliest, Lu said, adding that if Ma does decide to release him, she would greet Chen Shui-bian in front of Pei Te Prison.
The coast guard drove away 567 Chinese boats and seized seven illegally operating in Taiwanese waters in the first six months of this year, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. They mostly operated near Kinmen and Penghu counties, resulting in fines totaling NT$1.7 million (US$52,440), it said. Three ships — two near Kinmen County and one near Penghu County — were detained in January for illegally crossing the border, while one ship each was detained near Kinmen in February and Penghu in March respectively, it said. The ship seized near Penghu in January was the Yun Ao (雲澳), detained by the CGA’s
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
Military photovoltaic projects have been found to have used Chinese-made devices blacklisted by the government, including Huawei Technologies Co routers, the Ministry of National Defense’s Armaments Bureau said on Thursday. An ongoing investigation has identified the illegal use of 128 current transformers, two routers and a data reader at the Hungchailin Army Base, Pinghai Navy Base and Tri-Service General Hospital’s Songshan branch, it said. The devices were manufactured in the Chinese factories of German solar energy equipment supplier SMA Solar Technology, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Delta Electronics Co, Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei and Taiwanese industrial PC maker Advantech Co, the bureau said. The bureau’s
FLU CONTINUES: Hospitals reported 101,091 visits for flu-like illnesses last week, while 68 severe cases and 16 flu-related deaths were also reported, the CDC said The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 932 hospitalizations due to COVID-19 and 64 related deaths for last week, adding that the number of people who had contracted new SARS-CoV-2 subvariants KP.2 and LB.1 has increased. The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 increased from 815 in the previous week to 932 last week, while 90 percent of the 64 deceased were aged 65 or older, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. JN.1 was still the dominant variant among local and imported cases in the past four weeks, while KP.2 was the second-most common, Lin said. Cases with the LB.1 subvariant