Chinese FITs could cause problems for hospitals

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

Different expectations about medical services in Taiwan and China could represent a great challenge for Taiwan with the Chinese free independent travelers (FIT) program, a cross-strait medical service provider said yesterday.

“More than a reasonable fraction of hospitalized Chinese tourists intentionally extend their stay in Taiwanese hospitals, which have long been known for top-notch medical services,” International SOS general manager Keynes Chen (陳楷植) said.

“They even invited family members and relatives to come to Taiwan and visit them in hospital so they could brag about it,” he said.

Meanwhile, most Taiwanese clients of the international healthcare and security company asked to return home as soon as possible after falling ill in China, Chen said.

Following the launch of the FIT program on June 28, an increasing number of Chinese tourists could mean more trouble for Taiwanese hospitals, which have had difficulty collecting medical bills from Chinese patients, Chen said.

Although he did not have the numbers for uncollected debt from Chinese patients, Chen said the number could be “alarming.”

The insurance coverage rate in Taiwan reaches 200 percent, which means two premiums for every citizen, Chen said. In China, the coverage rate is about 10 percent, which explains why the medical debt in China is so high, he said.

In negotiations with China, Taiwan has requested that Chinese travelers purchase overseas travel insurance to ensure medical bills will be paid if they are admitted to a hospital, Bureau of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said before the first group of FITs arrived.

However, Shih said both sides failed to reach agreement during the sixth round of negotiations between Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).

Taiwan will make the request again during a working group meeting this month or next to discuss the Cross-Strait Agreement on Medical and Health Cooperation, which was signed in December.

Traffic crashes Ma’s new page

By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter

President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) campaign headquarters launched its first Facebook message application for his re-election campaign, but the system was quickly overloaded with traffic and crashed within 30 minutes of its launch.

The application, named “Early Birds,” allowed users to “punch in” every morning between 6am and 10:30am to leave messages, campaign spokeswoman Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) said. The office is working to correct the problem, but it is unclear when the application will be relaunched, she said.

The office took over operation of Ma’s Facebook fanpage on Saturday, she said, adding that it has more than 680,000 fans.

“The ‘Early Birds’ was the first of a series of social media applications the office will launch in an attempt to reach out to young voters and Internet users,” she said.

Compared with the 2008 presidential election campaign, Ma’s team is putting more effort into boosting its Internet communications, a battleground generally seen to favor the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which began utilizing the Internet earlier than the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) did.

Meanwhile, DPP spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said Ma has always tried to prove he is Web-savvy to appeal to younger voters.

However, as a national leader, Ma needs to focus on the wellbeing and livelihood of the people and development of the country rather than waking up early to check his Facebook site, Chen said.

Ma’s main challenger in the election, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), has yet to announce any major Internet activities.

Activists protest political repression in Malaysia

By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter

Human rights advocates yesterday protested at the Malaysian representative office in Taiwan and submitted a letter demanding an end to what they called the mass repression of pro-reform activists in the Southeast Asian country.

Led by Amnesty International (AI) Taiwan and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), the protesters urged the Malaysian government to release detained activists and respect freedom of speech and assembly for Malaysians.

Since June 24, more than 100 activists have been arrested or questioned by police over their support of an election reform rally, which was initially scheduled for Saturday by the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, also known as “Bersih 2.0,” or “clean” in Malay.

“People in Malaysia are witnessing what Taiwanese experienced 30 years ago during the White Terror period, when a democratic system did not exist and civil rights were not respected. This is why we are here today to voice out our support,” TAHR secretary-general Tsai Chi-hsun (蔡季勳) said.

The civil rights advocates particularly focused on the Internal Security Act (ISA), which they said has been used as a tool for the Malaysian government to oppress activists, allowing police to detain anyone suspected of threatening national security for as long as 60 days.

“The ISA in Malaysia is like the martial law in Taiwan. Both law legalize state violence against the people, which is not right,” AI Taiwan deputy director Tony Yang (楊宗澧) said.

Under the watchful eye of dozens of Taipei police, protesters condemned the Malaysian government’s detention of activists accused of “waging war against the king” and shouted the slogans of “Shame on you, Malaysian government” and “Abolish ISA” in front of the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Center building.

Rohayu binti Md Saad, personal assistant of the office’s president, was sent to accept the letter and said the message would be relayed back to Kuala Lumpur as soon as possible.

However, she said there was no guarantee of an immediate response.

Unexpectedly attending the rally was Chua Tian-chang, a member of the Malaysian parliament and the vice president of the People’s Justice Party — the largest opposition party in Malaysia.

It has been very difficult for opposition parties and reformists to participate in politics in Malaysia, where unfair elections and dirty tactics against the opposition are the norm, the 46-year-old Chua said.

Legislators dispute gang link claim

By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter

Former Academia Sinica president Lee Yuan-tseh’s (李遠哲) comments in a newly published book alleging that some lawmakers were supported by gangsters stirred up a ruckus in the legislature yesterday as lawmakers urged Lee to provide evidence and “name names.”

Lee was quoted in a book recently published by the independent watchdog Citizen’s Congress Watch titled Action! as saying that “many lawmakers were financed by businessmen and some were even supported by gang members.”

The 1986 Nobel Prize laureate, who led the state-funded institution as president from 1994 to 2006, said he had been advised by insiders to “go to the men behind the lawmakers” if there were problems to be solved.

Lee’s comments drew mixed reactions in the Legislative Yuan yesterday, with Legislator Chu Feng-chi (朱鳳芝) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) saying the remarks had tarnished the integrity of every lawmaker and that Lee “should name names.”

KMT Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) described the accusations as “groundless” and “doubtful” and that they have made Lee “[just] another TV commentator,” which could hurt his credibility.

While saying it was true that some politicians with gang connections had been elected to the legislature in the past, Lin said: “I don’t see anyone in the legislature who has been [financially] supported by gangsters.”

Under the current electoral -system — a one-on-one battle in every constituency after the system was changed in 2007 from plurality voting to single-member districts — it is highly unlikely that candidates with a mafia background could be elected, he added.

KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) said that it was inevitable that some lawmakers would come into contact with gangsters in their constituencies. However, he added that it does not mean lawmakers will be directed by gang members.

Wu urged Lee to provide concrete evidence to back up his claim.

“Otherwise, this is an unfair accusation against all legislators,” he said.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), on the other hand, -suggested that bribery, under-the-table maneuvers and lawmakers with mafia connections were nothing new in the legislature.

“I really don’t think [Lee’s comment about] legislators being financed by gangsters is surprising,” he said.

Nonetheless, Huang said, Lee, as one of the most respected academics in Taiwan, should describe in detail how he was forced to go via the “back door” in the past to move legislation and budgets in the legislature.

Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said current legislation screening has been seriously affected by rampant lobbying from various interest groups.

“At the end of the day, lawmakers should know how to avoid conflicts of interest,” she said.

Lee Teng-hui indictment is inappropriate: groups

By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter

Pro-independence groups voiced support for former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday, after Lee was indicted on charges of embezzling state funds on Friday, saying that even if the handling of state funds was inappropriate, Lee should be pardoned because of the historical circumstances.

There is no evidence to indicate that Lee embezzled state funds, but even if such evidence was produced, he should be pardoned because “Taiwanese presidents have been able to use state funds at their own discretion without regulations since the era of former presidents Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and -Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國),” former presidential adviser Huang Tien-lin (黃天麟) said at a joint press conference hosted by the Taiwan Republic Office.

“Presidents thereafter simply followed suit,” Huang said, adding that as the first ROC [Republic of China] president to be directly elected, Lee should be immune from prosecution and regulations on the use of state funds should not be retroactive.

The ROC is a government-in-exile and has always resorted to judicial prosecution as a tool to counter anyone considered a threat to the regime, said Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴) of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan.

“In 2000 [People First Party Chairman] James Soong (宋楚瑜) was prosecuted, followed by [former president] Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), and now it’s Lee Teng-hui,” he said.

The essence of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has not changed one bit, but it has certainly “improved” its approach, Healthy Taiwan Society president Kuo Cheng-deng (郭正典) said.

“In the past, the party resorted to assassinations to deal with political opponents, now, it uses the judicial system to lock them up,” he said.

Kuo lamented what he called a “double standard” in Taiwanese politics, saying that while Lee has been indicted for misusing state funds, the issue of KMT stolen assets remained unresolved.

Judicial reform on wrong track, DPP’s Tsai says

NEXT PLEASE:Tsai said that her campaign slogan “Taiwan NEXT,” stemmed from a determination to ensure the well-being of Taiwan’s next generation
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter

Judicial reform under the current administration is on the wrong track, because non-interference in some cases and indictments of heavyweight politicians does not constitute reform, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.

In an interview published in the -Chinese-language United Evening News, the 54-year-old presidential hopeful talked about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) judicial reforms, the highly publicized indictment of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) as well as her economic policies.

Judicial reforms should start with systematic changes, she said.

WRONG-HEADED

“If President Ma’s reforms starts with cases that have political implications, then they are heading in the wrong direction,” Tsai said.

For example, the indictment of Lee, who on Friday was charged with embezzling state funds, gives rise to certain suspicions, she said, adding that opinion polls showed most Taiwanese, particularly in southern parts of the country, felt the move was politically motivated.

Ma “talks about judicial reform and non-interference in specific cases every day, but that does not represent real reform,” she said.

As to whether the Ma administration had adhered to the principle of non-interference in specific cases, “the public will make its own judgment,” Tsai said.

Tsai said she has consistently refrained from discussing judicial cases involving former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and now Lee because real reform should focus on protecting the rights of ordinary citizens, who tend not to enjoy the support and resources available to politicians.

On rumors that she, too, is implicated in an improper use of state funds case, Tsai said that while she did receive a subsidy for her research at the time, implying she embezzled state funds was a “vicious tactic.”

SOCIAL SUPPORT

A national leader should be able to generate the political will and social support to reform the judiciary as well as deal with conflicts of interest and various historical problems, Tsai said.

However, the Ma administration has deliberately shied away from making some much-needed decisions and had remained unaccountable, she said.

Meanwhile, Tsai said she was optimistic the DPP would be able to establish a “clean government,” saying the party had learned from its mistakes when it was in office from 2000 until 2008.

To label the DPP a corrupt party and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) uncorrupt would be a “dumbfounding assertion,” she said, as the KMT is much richer and its integrity has continually been questioned.

On economic issues, Tsai, who played a key role in Taiwan’s negotiations with the WTO, expanded on her vision of a “globalized economy” for Taiwan.

The goal, she said, was to develop competitive sectors “with local characteristics,” such as orchid growing and the high-value-added service sector.

VISION

“Research and development can also develop into a sector of its own rather than a division controlled by private corporations,” she said, adding that the transformation of Taiwan’s industrial structure could take as long as a decade.

Explaining her campaign slogan “Taiwan NEXT,” Tsai said this stemmed from a determination to ensure the well-being of Taiwan’s next generation and the country’s development over the next 10 years.

Researcher calls on candidates to refrain from chasing polls

‘BEAUTY CONTEST’:The Formosa Heart Coalition said it had collected more than 100,000 signatures to possibly nominate a third presidential candidate
By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

Academia Sinica researcher Hsu Cho-yun (許倬雲) yesterday urged the candidates in January’s presidential election to present concrete proposals rather than vie for better rates in opinion polls as a way to prove they are qualified national leaders.

Hsu, an 80-year-old historian, challenged the candidates at a teleconference press event in Taipei hosted by the Formosa Heart Coalition, which has a Chinese name that means “my heart is still alive (我心未死).”

In an article titled “Advice for the 2012 elections,” Hsu expressed disappointment over the failure of both presidential candidates — President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) — to present ideals and policies, instead focusing their attention on public opinion polls, making the election a mere “beauty contest.”

Over the past two decades, Taiwan has failed to implement the separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, the historian said.

A cross-party platform or mechanism should be established to achieve a shared position on Taiwan’s external relations, including those with China, he said.

The Formosa Heart, a self--proclaimed neutral campaign led by former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德), who has since severed ties with the party, is a coalition of intellectuals, artists and former politicians who said they support neither Ma nor Tsai and say that there should be a “third way” in the direction Taiwan is heading.

The coalition said it has collected more than 100,000 signatures and added that it did not rule out nominating a third presidential candidate for next year’s election.

Shih, who participated in an anti-KMT movement during the White Terror era in the 1980s and in 2006 led a mass protest in an attempt to oust then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), said Taiwan would not be able to enjoy “normal development as a country” until a president decides to be “a president for all people.”

In the past, “all we have had is a president for the KMT or a president for the DPP, rather than a president for Taiwan or a president for the Republic of China,” he said.

Other public figures attending the press conference included novelists Chen Ruoxi (陳若曦), Chang Show-foong (張曉風) former Army Commander Hu Chen-pu (胡鎮埔) and political commentator Yao Li-ming (姚立明).

Pro-independence groups voice their support for Lee

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter
Mon, Jul 04, 2011 - Page 1

Pro-Taiwan independence groups yesterday expressed their belief in former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) innocence after he was indicted on a charge of embezzling state funds, saying that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was behind the charge. The groups also said the indictment was politically motivated.

Justice has to be served in the indictment of Lee, scores of pro-Taiwan independence groups said at a joint press conference held in Taipei.

Lee was indicted on Thursday on charges of embezzling NT$7.8 million (US$271,000) in national security funds during his tenure in office from 1988 to 2000. The following day, Ma held an impromptu press conference denying accusations that the indictment of Lee was politically motivated.

Unconvinced, Taiwan Association of University Professors (TAUP) president Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲) yesterday said it was hard to believe that Ma was not involved in the case.

Chang said that since Ma took office in 2008, opposition politicians, including former Chiayi County commissioner Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) and Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬), have been falsely prosecuted.

Lee’s support of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and his proposed campaign of “voting against Ma to protect Taiwan” were the reasons why Ma decided to go after the former president, Chang said.

Examining the development of the case chronologically, “you will realize that this is a calculated maneuver,” he said.

“Lee was indicted by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel on June 30. Ma held a press conference the next day and said the case was by no means an act of political oppression. On July 2, Ma announced at the party congress of his Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] that the main theme of his re-election campaign will be ‘fighting corruption,’” Chang said.

Lo Fu-chen (羅福全), Taiwan’s former representative to Japan, said Ma’s recent comments on the case suggested that Taiwan’s judicial system did not function independently.

“As the president, the top official of the administrative branch, Ma should not ‘instruct’ what should be done on any judicial case. If he does so, it’s an infringement of the judicial system,” Lo said.

Central Taiwan Society (台灣中社) secretary-general Lee Chuan-hsin (李川信) said the indictment did not make sense because “it was not necessary for Lee to steal money from the state fund for his own business because he doubled as KMT chairman at the time, and the KMT is one of the richest -parties in the world.”

“Lee could have gotten the money from his own party [if he wanted to steal money], which would have been easier,” Lee Chuan-hsin said.

Tsai on Friday called the timing of the former president’s indictment “suspicious,” adding that judicial cases “should not be used as tools to serve political interests or for election purposes.”

Coming to Ma’s defense, Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏), a spokeswoman for the president’s campaign office, yesterday accused Tsai of -criticizing the judiciary through a political lens.

Lee Chia-fei said that when KMT members were indicted, the DPP did not accuse the courts of being selective in their rulings, and accuse Tsai of favoring a partisan judiciary in which “people from the pan-blue camp can be indicted and people from the pan-green camp cannot.”

Additional reporting by Staff Writer

Taipei launches R2 animal welfare program

By Chris Wang  /  Staff Reporter

Strategies to find homes for stray animals will be improved and stray dogs could even “find jobs” as a result of an ambitious animal welfare program launched by Taipei City Government yesterday.

The program named “R2,” which represents “re-home” and “re-work,” is part of the city government’s “Year of Animal Welfare” initiative to educate pet owners about their responsibilities to their pets, Animal Protection Office (APO) -director Yen Yi-feng (嚴一峰) said.

Yen added that the country has made great strides in the establishment of animal shelters over the past 20 years or so, citing a study conducted by the Council of Agriculture last year, which found that the number of stray animals in Taiwan was down to 85,000 from an 890,000 in 1988.

The decrease can be attributed to a shift away from killing stray animals in favor of animal adoption, he added.

However, the office still thinks that greater awareness of pet owners’ responsibilities is needed, together with the increase in animal shelters and adoptions, particularly given the large number of cases of animal abuse and abandonment, Yen said.

Taipei City’s APO, established in January last year as the first of its kind among the nation’s municipal administrations, collaborates with animal rights groups to promote stray animal adoption and to end abandonment.

The office said it was established to do more than just house stray animals, hence the “Dogs at work” program, an initiative that seeks to turn stray dogs into working dogs.

After rigorous training, several dogs have started to work with Coast Guard Administration officers, while others worked in outdoor exhibition areas at the Flora Expo, APO officer Chen Yung-hao (陳永豪) said.

With proper training, these dogs can serve a wide range of functions Chen added.

“Think about it, they are transformed from stray dogs into working dogs,” he said. “Isn’t that great?”

The most intriguing part of the program is the APO’s introduction of “dog mentors” for the first time. The dog trainees will be no longer trained by human trainers, but trained canines.

Studies show that leaders in a pack of dogs are better equipped to teach, educate and discipline dogs under them than human instructors Formosa Friendly Animals Education Association secretary-general Hsieh Hsing-hui (謝杏慧) said.

Lee dismisses corruption charges

PAN-GREEN:：Tsai Ing-wen said the timing of the former president’s indictment was ‘suspicious,’ while reaffirming the collaboration between the DPP and Lee’s TSU
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
Sat, Jul 02, 2011 - Page 1

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said he was innocent and dismissed the corruption charges against him as groundless.

In a speech made one day after being indicted on charges of embezzling state funds, the 88-year-old said he did not want to go into details of the case as they “simply came out of the prosecutors’ own heads,” adding that as an old man, “I don’t fear death, let alone these oppression tactics.”

Lee, the nation’s first democratically elected president, is the second former president to be charged with corruption and money laundering after Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was found guilty by the Supreme Court last year.

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office Special Investigation Panel (SIP) on Thursday accused Lee and a top aide of illegally siphoning US$7.8 million from secret diplomatic funds used by the National Security Bureau (NSB) and laundering the money during his terms in office from 1988 to 2000.

If convicted, Lee could face at least 10 years in prison, although prosecutors have indicated that they may ask for more a lenient sentence because of his age.

Lee looked unfazed last night when he spoke at a fundraising dinner for the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), a political party he founded in 2001.

Lee told the audience that when he served as president, the only thing he thought about was the interests of the country and the people, adding that he had always been able to separate his private assets and public assets during his tenure.

Lee said that he was determined to defend his innocence and would not be beaten easily.

“If there is no justice in this world, there is God,” Lee said.

In his speech, Lee took a swipe at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), accusing Ma of incompetence and saying his administration’s China-leaning policy was the reason behind Taiwan’s loss of international competitiveness and the increasing wealth gap.

“There is no other way to change the country unless this leader is replaced,” Lee said, reiterating his slogan to “vote against Ma to protect Taiwan.”

Speaking at the same occasion after Lee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said the timing of Lee’s indictment was “suspicious.”

Judicial cases “should not be used as tools to serve political interests or for election purposes,” she said.

Given Taiwan’s unique past and circumstances, Tsai said that the legal basis of many “secret funds” and “underground programs” should be re-examined by the government and that it should never be “selective” in handling judicial cases.

Tsai reaffirmed the collaboration between the DPP and the TSU in the upcoming presidential and legislative elections in January, adding that history showed that whenever the two parties chose not to collaborate, the election results were less than desirable.

Earlier yesterday, TSU Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝), noting Lee’s indictment came 15 days after Prosecutor-General Huang Shyh-ming’s (黃世銘) return from a seven-day visit to China, alleged that it was made under Beijing’s instructions.

Huang Kun-huei said it was a Chinese attempt to weaken Lee’s influence ahead of the elections and to malign pro-localized Taiwanese politicians with the label of corruption.

Meanwhile, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was quoted by his office as saying that Lee’s indictment was a “dirty electioneering trick” with Tsai as the target.

Chen also dismissed media reports saying it was his filing of a complaint that led to Lee’s indictment.

Chen, currently serving a 17-year term for corruption and money laundering, has called his case a vendetta carried out by Ma’s government in retaliation for his pro--independence stance while in power.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER