Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said he would seek to “gauge public opinion” on assisted suicide and surrogacy, despite “personally” supporting legalization.
At a news conference in Taipei, Ko said that he “could not think of any reasons to oppose” legalizing the two practices based on his experiences as a medical professional, which include serving as director of the National Taiwan University Hospital emergency room and the hospital’s Department of Traumatology.
Asked by reporters if this meant the legalization of euthanasia and surrogacy — pregnancy by artificial insemination and carrying another person’s baby — was a part of his election platform, Ko stopped short of officially endorsing the two policies, stating only that he would seek to “gauge public opinion.”
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
When pressed further on the issue — and opposition from religious and human rights groups, in particular — Ko said legalization would be his “direction,” adding that he would “try to persuade the opponents” of euthanasia and surrogacy.
Chen Chao-tzu (陳昭姿), a former head of the pro-independence Taiwan Society and long-time advocate of surrogacy, told the news conference she had been pushing for the legislation of surrogacy since 1996.
The surrogacy advocate claimed that a clique in the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of Gender Equality had continually blocked bills to legalize the practice, resulting in reform languishing in the legislature for almost 30 years.
Chen said that this small group of self-appointed “feminists” opposes surrogacy to use women as “tools.”
Surrogacy has also met with the objection of children welfare advocacy groups that champion adoption, Chen added.
Chen asked why the government encourages couples to have children amid the country’s low birthrate, but has ignored couples who would do anything to have their own children through surrogacy.
In 2004, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), then-health minister, held the first-ever “civic conference” in Taiwan to discuss surrogacy and arrived at the consensus to “not prohibit surrogacy, but only permit it with conditions,” Chen Chao-tzu said.
Chen Chien-jen told her then that she could “expect progress” in six months, a promise that has to date been unfulfilled, she said, calling on Chen Chien-jen to launch a new initiative to legalize surrogacy in his more prominent role as premier.
Chen Chao-tzu told Ko that she would support Ko in the presidential election as long as Ko would include legalizing surrogacy as a component of his healthcare platform.
When reporters asked Ko whether Chen Chao-tzu’s appearance at his news conference meant she had “ditched” Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the DPP’s presidential candidate, in favor of himself, Ko said that people should not jump to conclusions and that there was no need to “politicize everything.”
Ko said that he and Chen Chao-tzu had known each other for many years and that she recruited him to be the convener of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) medical team, for which Chen Chao-tzu was the spokesperson.
It was due to this experience that he had the opportunity to campaign for and be elected Taipei mayor, Ko said.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS