To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Release from Prison the democratically elected ex-President of Taiwan Chen Shui-bian on Medical P...
Under the US's Taiwan Relations Act, the United States is to help preserve the "human rights" in Taiwan. The US should act diplomatically to tell Taiwan to immediately release ex-President Chen on medical parole, and give him adequate time to recover his health and to prepare for his defense of the KMT charges against him.
Why is this important?
Taiwanese-Americans are asking ALL Americans to help us in a situation where the US has a lot of influence: Taiwan's current President Ma Ing-jeou and his ruling Kuomintang Party ("KMT") have thrown the last democratically elected President Chen Shui-bian in prison on trumped up charges of corruption, which he is not able to adequately defend since his imprisonment. President Chen's health is rapidly deteriorating, as evidenced by the expert opinions of local and international medical teams who have seen him recently in his tiny jail cell, where he is NOT able to even sit in a chair, or have a bed, nor move about to exercise. This sets a dangerous precedent for future elections of presidents, in a fragile new democracy such as Taiwan, where direct Presidential elections were held only since 2000, when President Chen was elected. Under Human Rights laws, President Chen should be released immediately on medical grounds, and to prepare an adequate defense to the KMT accusations of corruption. The KMT has a long history of "white terror" and corruption on the island of Taiwan, since their military dictatorship of almost 40 years. Their current ill treatment of ex-President Chen (democratically elected in 2000, and re-elected in 2004) is in keeping with the KMT's long tradition of un-democratic behavior.