For the past five days, Chen has continued to push away trays with his breakfast, lunch and dinner in protest against what he describes as judicial injustice. As of yesterday morning, Chen felt tightness in his chest and general soreness, with his blood pressure and blood sugar levels at the edge of normal ranges, said Li Ta-chu, deputy warden of the detention center in suburban Taipei.

Since Chen has refused to eat and refused to accept intravenous fluids to provide him with nutrition, detention center authorities, after consulting his doctors, have decided to have the former president sent to the nearby Far Eastern Memorial Hospital for forced nutrition injections, Li said.

Li said the police and National Security Bureau (國安局) guards would be deployed outside and around Chen's room during his stay at the hospital.

Chen is under investigation for embezzlement, bribe-taking, money laundering and illegally removing classified documents from the Presidential Office.

To highlight his claim that his arrest was politically motivated, Chen has refused to eat since he was sent to the detention center five days ago after a lengthy court hearing concluded there was enough evidence to detain him to prevent him from colluding with other co-conspirators.