Over the past few years, calls have mounted for Chen Shui-bian to be released on medical grounds from prison, where he is serving a 20-year sentence. Mr Chen was the first opposition politician to be voted president of Taiwan, in a historic election in 2000 that ended half a century of often thuggish rule by the Kuomintang (the kmt or Nationalist Party, which has since been voted back to power). A brave former civil-rights lawyer and passionate supporter of Taiwanese independence, Mr Chen proved to be a deeply flawed leader and was jailed six years ago on corruption charges.
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