Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

US activist takes up Chen’s case

Taipei Times

Founder of the Human Rights Action Center John Healey has written an open letter to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) appealing for better prison conditions and healthcare for former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

“In the United States we have prosecuted and convicted politicians from the most local to national offices, but we do not systematically deny those people access to healthcare due to political differences,” Healey said in a letter carried by the Huffington Post.

US to accept ‘Taiwan’ on entry forms

Taipei Times

The US Department of Homeland Security has changed its policy and will now allow Taiwanese citizens entering the US to list Taiwan as their country of citizenship rather than China (Taiwan).

“This is about fairness and today is a victory for the entire Taiwanese community,” said the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, US Representative Howard Berman.

Independence vital to Diaoyutais

Chen Yi-shen 陳儀深

Last month, Coast Guard Administration patrol boats entered the waters around the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) — known as Senkaku in Japan — and this month, three boats from China’s Fishery Law Enforcement Command (FLEC) entered the 12 nautical mile (22km) zone surrounding the islands.

These events, which both drew protests from Japan, are of course connected to statements this spring by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara that the city should buy four of the islands and statements by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda earlier this month that the Japanese government is considering buying them.

Chen Shui-bian pleads innocent again at appeal

Taipei Times

Former president Chen Shui-bian enters the Taiwan High Court in Taipei for a hearing yesterday.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times

Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) made his first court appearance yesterday since reports emerged on Tuesday that he has attempted suicide three times since first being taken into custody in late 2008.

Chen, who is serving a 17-and-a-half-year sentence on corruption charges, arrived at the Taiwan High Court to the cheers of around 20 of his supporters. He looked tired and ill.

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