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The top story from this past week was the crash of TransAsia Airways Flight GE235. The Kinmen-bound turboprop crashed into a river in Taipei shortly after taking off from Songshan Airport on Wednesday morning. As of Sunday, 40 bodies had been recovered, while three people were still missing. A total of 15 people survived the crash.
An initial assessment had suggested that the crash was caused by a double engine failure, but flight data suggest that pilot error may have also contributed to the crash.
It was the second fatal crash for the airlines in less than a year.
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Also in the news this past week, authorities in Taiwan and China postponed a high-level meeting that was scheduled to take place this weekend.
Taiwan’s top China policy-maker, Wang Yu-chi, was set to meet his Chinese counterpart, Zhang Zhijun, on the offshore Taiwanese island of Kinmen on Saturday.
Taiwanese officials say that the meeting was cancelled because China has failed to show any sign of goodwill in talks over four controversial new flight routes. China had unilaterally announced the flight routes, which pass near Taiwan. Taiwan’s aviation authority has cited safety concerns, and Taiwan’s top China negotiator was set to lodge a protest during Saturday’s meeting.
But Chinese officials say that the reason why Saturday’s meeting was cancelled was not because of a stalemate over the air routes. They say that the two sides need to concentrate on dealing with the aftermath of the TransAsia Airways plane crash.
At a legislature committee meeting on Friday, lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties showed support for delaying the meeting. But they urged the government to monitor China’s reasons for the postponement.
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And finally, this past week, former President Chen Shui-bian, who last month was granted medical furlough for a period of one month, has now received a three-month extension. The justice ministry’s decision on Wednesday means that Chen will be able to spend the Lunar New Year holiday at home.
At the end of January, prison officials visited Chen and reviewed an assessment conducted by his medical team. They later said that the former president’s health had not improved since his release, and that the furlough period should be extended.
The former president, who was in office between 2000 and 2008, has served more than six years of a 20-year prison sentence for corruption.
Doctors say Chen’s health has declined over the past few years, with the former president suffering from loss of motor control and incontinence, among other problems.