Taipei  - Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian, serving a life term for corruption, plans to release a CD to call for Taiwan's independence from China, his office said Wednesday.

"The single-song CD is entitled One Country on Each Side (of the Taiwan Strait). We are raising money so that we can release it in December," a staff member from Chen's office, who gave only her surname Chen, said.

"Chen Shui-bian wrote the lyrics. Composer Wang Ming-cheh wrote the music for the song," she added.

Taipei  - The Pacific island nation of Palau is probing suspected money laundering by Taiwan's ex-president Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan television reported Monday.

Cable TV channel TVBS, in a dispatch from Palau, said Chen is suspected of routing 40 million US dollars in 2005 through Palau's Pacific Savings Bank to the United States and other countries.

Palau's President Toribiong confirmed a suspicious transaction took place.

Taipei  - Taiwan's Council of Grand Justices Friday rejected a petition by former president Chen Shui-bian charging that the corruption trial against him was unconstitutional, dealing another blow to the graft-tainted ex-leader.

Chen sought a review in January by the council, the island's highest constitutional authority, over whether the consitution was violated by the Taipei District Court when it changed judges in the middle of Chen's trial.

Taipei  - Taiwan's ex-president Chen Shui-bian was given a fresh chance for freedom after the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the high court to hold another hearing on his bail request.

The Supreme Court said in a statement the reasons given by the Taiwan High Court to continue to hold Chen were insufficient to prove that the ex-president had hidden huge funds abroad, would flee and would threaten witnesses if freed.

Taipe - Taiwan prosecutors Tuesday rejected requests by four family members of scandal-tainted ex-president Chen Shui-bian to plead guilty to money laundering charges in exchange for a pardon.

"The prosecutors insisted that my clients might have been involved in other wrongdoings and thus decided against accepting their plea bargain," said Yeh Ta-hui, lawyer for the ex-president's son, Chen Chih-chung, after a court hearing in Taipei.

Taipei  - Taipei District Court will issue its decision in former president Chen Shui-bian's graft trial on September 11, the court announced Friday.

Chen, 58, president from 2000-2008, has been held at the Taipei Detention Centre since December 30, 2008 on charges of corruption. His trial began on March 26.

Taipei  - A Taiwan court Tuesday rejected a request by scandal-plagued former president Chen Shui-bian to be released from detention, saying he was not ill enough to qualify for medical bail.

"His physical discomforts, including footache and arteriosclerosis, are not serious enough to qualify him for medical treatment outside the detention centre, and therefore his request for medical bail was turned down," the Taiwan High Court said in a statement.

Chen had also petitioned to be released on the grounds that he was unjustly detained but the court also dismissed this request.

Taipei - Taiwan's prosecutors Friday indicted the daughter of former president Chen Shui-bian on charges of perjury over graft allegations against her father, a spokesman said.

Chen Hsin-yu was accused of making false statements in an attempt to cover up for the ex-president, Lin Chin-tsun, spokesman of the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, said.

"Her testimonies about the state fund case were inconsistent," Lin said, referring to the ex-president's alleged embezzlement of 2.97 million US dollars in state funds.

Taipei - A Taiwan court Monday ordered former president Chen Shui-bian to remain in detention for two more months, pending court investigation into a string of corruption scandals implicating him and his family.

"The panel of judges has decided to extend his detention period for two more months from July 26 to facilitate further probes into his alleged crimes," said Taipei District Court spokesman Huang Chun-ming.

Taipei  - Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian has begged current leader Ma Ying-jeou to lift a court order that restricts Chen's daughter from leaving the island to allow her to pursue advanced study in the United States, his aide said Monday.

Chen Hsin-yu originally planned to leave Taiwan for advanced study in dentistry, but the court last week barred her from departing after she pleaded guilty to making false statements to try to protect her parents in a money laundering case.

Taipei - A Taiwan court Monday ruled that ex-president Chen Shui-bian should remain in custody for two more months despite his hospitalization for weak health due to a hunger strike to protest against what he claims is injustice.

"The court decided to extend his detention period for two more months until July 25 on the grounds that he could (if freed) tamper with evidence, threaten witnesses and destroy evidence," said Huang Chun-ming, spokesman of the Taipei District Court.

Taipei - Detained former president Chen Shui-bian was rushed to hospital Saturday due to heart problems and dehydration, two days after he began a hunger strike to protest against what he claimed was an unfair trial.

Chen, 58, has been held on charges of corruption since late December at the Taipei Detention Centre.

"He has dehydration and is weak, but he remains clear in sense," a spokesman of Panchiao Hospital said.

Taipei - Detained former president Chen Shui-bian Thursday vowed to go on hunger strike - his third since November - to protest against the Taiwan government for holding him and putting him on trial for corruption.

He also said he would terminate the contract with his lawyers to defend for him in the trial, and asked the court to sentence him to life to protest against what he insisted was illegal prosecution and trial.

"I have never been involved in any corruption. Nor have I committed any crimes," he said in a statement issued through his office late Thursday.

Taipei  - Former banker Jeffrey Koo Jr testified Wednesday that his uncle had given the wife of Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian 400 million Taiwan dollars
(11.8 million US dollars) through an associate as a reward for sealing a lucrative land deal.

The uncle, Koo Cheng-yun, and his associate did not name the ex-president as the recipient of the funds when they testified at Chen's trial on corruption charges.

Taipei  - Taiwan on Thursday opened a trial against ex-president Chen Shui-bian on graft charges. If convicted, Chen could face life imprisonment for corruption, money laundering and bribery.

On the first day of the trial at the Taipei District Court, the judge will hear testimony from Chen, Taiwan's president from 2000-2008, and two businessmen who allegedly gave millions of dollars to Chen in an illegal land deal. (dpa)

Taipei  - A frail former Taiwan's president Chen Shui-bian appeared in a Taiwan court for pretrial hearings on corruption allegations.

Chen, who ended a three-day hunger strike to protest against what he claimed was political persecution and injustice, was brought to court in handcuffs from the Taipei Detention Centre, where he has been jailed since late December.

When asked how he felt, he told Taipei District Court Judge Tsai Shou-hsun that he felt weak and uncomfortable.

Taipei - Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian resumed eating Monday, three days after beginning a hunger strike to protest what he claimed was unfair prosecution on corruption charges, officials said.

Lee Ta-chu, deputy director of the Taipei Detention Centre, said Chen ate porridge and cabbage provided by the prison and food brought by his wife, Wu Shu-chen.

He resumed eating after Wu visited and asked him to preserve his energy for a pretrial hearing set on Tuesday, Lee said.

Taipei - Three relatives of former Taiwan president Chen Shui-bian Wednesday pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering, in the latest development of a high-profile corruption scandal implicating the ex-leader.

Chen's son Chen Chih-chung, daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching and brother-in-law Wu Ching-mao all pleaded guilty in a pre-trial hearing over their alleged roles in laundering money abroad on behalf of Chen during his time as president between 2000 and 2008.

Taipei  - A Taiwan court on Monday began pretrial hearings for ex-president Chen Shui-bian on charges of corruption and money laundering.

The three-day pretrial session at the Taipei District Court will set the agenda for the trial, which is scheduled to open in February. (dpa)

Taipei - Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian was expected to be indicted on corruption charges Friday afternoon, becoming the first Taiwanese leader to be charged.

The Supreme Prosecutor's Office announced it will hold a news conference at 3:15 pm (0715GMT), and it is expected to announce the indictment of Chen and possibly members of his family.

Taiwan press said the indictment document is 800 pages, and Chen is likely to be indicted on four charges of corruption, which could result in 30 years imprisonment or a life term.