Official apologizes for comment on disabled peopleBy Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNAA senior Ministry of Health and Welfare official has apologized for implying that people with disabilities should be excluded from public hearings to prevent them from slowing down the process, groups said yesterday. Such a move could “have a negative effect on the dialogues necessary for the meeting’s functions,” the press release quoted him as telling a panel on proposed amendments to People with Disabilities Rights Protection Act (身心障礙者權益保障法). Disability advocacy groups protest in front of the Executive Yuan in Taipei on Dec. 3 last year. A person with a mental disability identified as Yaya (雅雅), who is a member of the group’s Taipei branch, told the hearing that she has faced discrimination her entire life. Tuan Ke-wei (段可薇), a woman with cerebral palsy and a social worker at the group’s Taipei branch, said that society conflates having a speech impediment with incompetence and inadequacy.

Source: Taipei Times April 10, 2026 17:14 UTC