Stop criticizing Tsai, Chen says

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is asking his supporters to stop criticizing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) for not seeking medical parole for him, the spokesperson of his private medical team said.

“[Chen] asked me to stop criticizing Tsai in my articles and public comments. He said that while he did not think what I did was a mistake, it would be better to stop criticizing Tsai and calling for people to cast spoilt ballots in the presidential election in 2016,” Janice Chen (陳昭姿), the spokesperson, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday night after visiting the former president in the prison hospital in Greater Taichung earlier that day.

Tsai urged to take action on A-bian

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been urged to take “substantial action” to help imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) leave prison and be put under house arrest due to his deteriorating health.

“Suffering from at least four major syndromes, Chen’s health condition is now in an alarming state, which is why Taichung Veterans General Hospital recommended he be put under home care,” Taipei Veterans General Hospital physician Kuo Cheng-deng (郭正典) said.

Ko calls on government to let ailing A-bian ‘go home’

WARNING:Ko Wen-je, who is on Chen Shui-bian’s medical team, said the ex-president’s poor health may only improve if he is taken from jail and put under house arrest instead
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), a member of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) private medical team, on Saturday called on the government to “let Chen go home,” saying that the incarcerated Chen’s condition is deteriorating.

Ko, who plans to run as an independent in the upcoming Taipei mayoral election, issued the call at an event organized by the Ketagalan Foundation, which was founded by Chen.

Ko Wen-je visits Chen Shui-bian in prison hospital

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

National Taiwan University Hospital physician and Taipei mayoral election aspirant Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) visited former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in the prison hospital in Greater Taichung yesterday and said that Chen should be allowed to leave prison for the sake of his health.

Chen, who is serving a 20-year prison term for corruption, was sent to Taichung Veterans General Hospital for surgery to treat his sleep apnea and on Tuesday returned to Taichung Prison’s Pei Teh Hospital, where a special medical zone was set up for him.

EDITORIAL: DPP and KMT not moving forward

This November marked the 50th anniversary of the assassination of US president John F. Kennedy, and the fifth year since former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was detained and imprisoned on charges of corruption.

On Nov. 22, 1963, Kennedy, one of the most beloved and respected presidents in US history, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. However, the premature end to Kennedy’s presidency did not erase him from people’s memory.

Quite the contrary, what Kennedy did and said during his three-year period in the White House was — and still is — able to inspire the American people.

Chen Shui-bian’s health deteriorating fast, his office says

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The speed of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) brain degeneration is 17-and-a-half times of that of an ordinary person, Chen’s office said yesterday, calling for the immediate granting of home care for the imprisoned former president before his health deteriorates further.

Citing the findings of Chen’s private medical team and an expert panel convened by Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄), the office said in a press release that Chen’s trembling, stuttering and incontinence were signs of deteriorating brain functions.

Nuclear waste deals signed with China, legislator says

UNPUBLISHED:The KMT legislator alleged that former president Chen Shui-bian signed deals on the handling of Taiwan’s nuclear waste in China
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Former premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) and former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) both instructed the signing of unpublished agreements with China regarding the storage of Taiwan’s nuclear waste in Gansu Province in China, a lawmaker said yesterday in a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan.

Siew, who was premier from 1997 to 2000 and later served as vice president, asked Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) to sign a nuclear waste storage deal with Beijing when he was premier, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) said yesterday.

Chen Chih-chung ‘not eligible’ for DPP membership

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Greater Kaohsiung chapter yesterday approved the application of Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), son of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), to rejoin the party, but DPP headquarters said the younger Chen is not yet eligible to apply.

The chapter approved Chen Chih-chung’s application yesterday afternoon. The approval would be reviewed by a panel at the party’s headquarters in Taipei, according to DPP regulations.

DPP reviews past policies

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter
Sat, Aug 24, 2013 - Page 3

A seminar organized by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday questioned whether the foreign and cross-strait policies of the administration of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) were inconsistent — and if so, why.

“The DPP cannot place all the blame [for what it was unable to accomplish] on Beijing’s oppression and the Chinese Nationalist Party’s [KMT] majority in the legislature,” Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies president Chao Chun-shan (趙春山) told a panel discussion. “After all, tensions across the Taiwan Strait and deteriorating Taiwan-US relations were facts.”

DPP to review Chen administration

SELF-REFLECTION:The party is taking a page from Tony Blair’s books, as it assesses its successes and failures while in power to adjust its policy direction
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will commence its first comprehensive review of its eight-year administration from 2000 to 2008 tomorrow with a series of seminars headed by former government officials, in hopes that the introspection will help the party return to power.

The seminars, organized by the DPP’s think tank, come on the heels of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) rejoining the party, which was approved by the DPP’s review panel on Wednesday last week.

DPP approves Chen Shui-bian’s application

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) panel yesterday approved imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) application to rejoin the party, ending a longstanding dispute among party members.

DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), the convener of the five-member panel, announced the decision and reiterated that the DPP supported Chen’s medical, judicial and human rights regardless of his membership status.

Chen’s application for DPP membership to be reviewed

DIVISIVE ISSUE:Five DPP members, including four lawmakers, will review the application from the former president to rejoin the party he quit in 2008
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) panel is scheduled to meet today to discuss imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) application to rejoin the party.

His membership application has drawn a mixed reaction from DPP members and politicians.

Hospital failed Chen: lawmakers

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Taichung Prison hospital failed to provide the necessary medical care to imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) before or after he attempted suicide on Sunday, lawmakers and Chen’s private medical team said yesterday.

The prison hospital did not send a physician to examine Chen until an hour after he was discovered trying to hang himself and the physician “was not aware of what had been going on,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) told a news conference.

Chen Shui-bian stable after suicide bid

DEATH WISH?：According to the Ministry of Justice, Chen Shui-bian tied a towel to a bathroom fitting and tried to hang himself, but was stopped by a prison caretaker
By Rich Chang and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporters
Tue, Jun 04, 2013 - Page 1

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself with a towel at a prison hospital in Greater Taichung on Sunday night, but was stopped by a caretaker, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday.

Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said that Chen, who is serving a 20-year jail sentence for corruption, was distraught that public funds could now be spent legally in hostess bars, while the courts had found his use of them for diplomatic projects to have been a criminal offense.

EDITORIAL: Facing the Chen Shui-bian issue

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been expecting this: while the “Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) issue” has been like a dark cloud hanging over the party for years, it knew that it would have to put an end to the complicated problem of the imprisoned former president.

And if the party tried to shrug off the issue, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would not mind reminding the DPP again and again that Chen is serving a 20-year sentence for corruption and how his administration from 2000 to 2008, the first non-KMT administration after World War II, disappointed the Taiwanese people.

DPP focused on development, not independence: Su

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that his China policy is “completely based on the DPP’s resolution on Taiwan’s future in 1999” and that the most urgent task is to move the nation’s development forward rather than working on independence.

Su made the comments in an interview with the Chinese-language United Evening News published yesterday afternoon. He also talked to reporters about the issues raised in the interview yesterday evening.

Chen Shui-bian’s possible return divides the DPP

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The dispute over imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) potentially returning to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heated up after the party’s congress on Saturday, with former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) hinting she was opposed to Chen’s return.

Tsai on Saturday said that Chen, who is serving a 20-year sentence for corruption, “would have to make a lot more effort to win back society’s respect,” since DPP members are divided over the ramifications and implications of Chen rejoining the party.

Su stays strong at DPP congress

THORNY ISSUE:Following retention of a number of key party mechanisms by the DPP congress, members left the issue of Chen Shui-bian rejoining the party for another time
By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) enjoyed a raucous and surprise-free party congress yesterday as the current party primary format of public polls, and DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang’s (蘇貞昌) measure on party members’ right to vote and to be elected, were retained.

Considered to be major factors that could impact the seven-in-one elections next year and the DPP’s primary for the 2015 presidential election, opinions were strongly divided over both issues, yet Su appears to have withstood pressure that was seen as a major challenge to his chairmanship.

DPP defuses ‘Chen bomb’ ahead of party congress

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is set to focus on the issues of its primary format and member rights regulation at its party congress today after defusing a potential spat over a bid to readmit imprisoned former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to the party.

DPP Legislator Mark Chen (陳唐山), convener of the One Country, One Side Alliance, founded by the former president, said yesterday afternoon that he has withdrawn a proposal to reinstate Chen Shui-bian’s membership.

Chen Shui-bian to apply to be DPP member again

By Chris Wang  /  Staff reporter

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will apply to return to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and could see his application approved at the party congress on Saturday.

Chen, who is serving a 20-year sentence for corruption, has authorized DPP caucus convener Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) to submit an application for DPP membership, almost five years after his withdrawal from the party in August 2008 amid escalating controversy surrounding his corruption probe, the DPP confirmed yesterday.