Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-05
By: CNA and Staff Reporter

The Taiwan Medical Association and the Japan Medical Association will sign a memorandum of emergency mutual support in case of disaster, enabling medical personnel to provide low-level medical treatment in each other’s country under the supervision of local colleagues.

Upon learning of the June 27 fire at the Formosa Fun Coast water park which left nearly 500 people with burns ranging from moderate to severe, both the Association of Medical Doctors in Asia and the Japan Medical Association have offered to send 10 doctors and 50 nurses to Taiwan to provide assistance.

However, since foreign doctors are not allowed to practice in Taiwan, the Ministry of Health and Welfare declined the offer.     [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/05
By: Chen Ching-fang and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 5 (CNA) The Japanese Red Cross Society has donated a shipment of 2,730 pieces of artificial skin measuring over 210,000 square centimeters and worth NT$23.06 million (US$746,520) to Taiwan to help treat hundreds of victims of the colored powder blast at a New Taipei water park on June 27.

The shipment of artificial skin was scheduled to arrive in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport around 9:35 p.m. Sunday and will be received by the Red Cross Society of the ROC before being transported to hospitals treating patients suffering burns from the catastrophic explosion.

The Japanese Red Cross Society has also sent two senior executives of its international medical aid and international relief divisions to Taiwan to keep abreast of the follow-up distribution of medical supplies it provides to Taiwanese victims.     [FULL  STORY]

Burns Association vice-chairman cites claims he was exploiting the dust blast tragedy

South China Morning Post
Date: 05 July, 2015
By: Elizabeth Cheung

A survivor of the deadly 1996 Pat Sin Leng hill fire will step down as vice-chairman of a

charity for burns patients, saying accusations that he is exploiting the Taiwan dust blast tragedy makes him no longer suitable to lead the organisation.

Stanley Cheung Yun-hang also expressed a desire to spend more time with his family, including his two-year-old son.

Fighting back tears at a press conference yesterday, Cheung said he felt the image of the Burns Association had been tarnished by his tainted reputation.

“Some web users have even initiated a boycott of our fundraising efforts [for victims of the Taiwan blast]. I am concerned this will affect the victims’ opportunities for scar treatment and other forms of recovery,” Cheung said.     [FULL  STORY]

People tend to an injured woman at the Formosa Fun Coast amusement park after an explosion in the Pali district of New Taipei City on June 27, 2015.

Asia One
July 4, 2015

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan’s Consumers’ Foundation (CF) yesterday offered to organise

and file a class action suit for the victims of Saturday’s colour dust explosion in New Taipei City, estimating that it could seek compensation ranging from NT$3-4 billion. Government officials, however, stated that it could be too early to discuss a suit as many victims are still undergoing treatment in hospitals.

CF Vice Chairman You Kai-hsiung stated during a press conference held yesterday that the organisation could help organise the suit as well as defray the estimated NT$6,600 in individual legal fees in order to file the suit. The CF said that it had already received phone calls from 30 to 40 individuals, and placed a preliminary estimate for compensation sought at NT$3-4 billion. Other reports indicate the amount could go as high as NT5 billion. It would represent the class action suit with the highest claim to be handled by the consumer advocacy group. Most recently, it has aided consumers in suits pertaining to numerous tainted food scandals.     [FULL  STORY]

Alex Haas, 26, suffered severe burns over 90 percent of his body

WMUR News
Date: Jul 04, 2015
By: By KC Downey

MONT VERNON, N.H. —The family of a Mont Vernon man who was severely burned in a Taiwan water park explosion said his condition has worsened.

Alex Haas, 26, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body when a firestorm erupted after a flammable powder substance blew up over a stage at a Taiwan park.

The family said Haas has been treated well at the Taiwan hospital, but he needs American medical care as soon as possible.

The family has launched a GoFundMe page and is hoping to raise enough money to bring Haas home to be cared for in the U.S.

Haas has been teaching English in Taiwan for almost a year.

USA Today
Date: July 4, 2015

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan marched out thousands of troops and displayed its most

modern military hardware Saturday to spotlight an old but often forgotten claim that its forces, not the Chinese Communists, led the campaign that routed imperial Japan from China 70 years ago.

The military staged an unusually large two-hour parade of homegrown missiles, Apache attack helicopters and a mountain bike team designed for stealth missions, followed by awards for aged World War II veterans in their attire from the 1940s.

China and Taiwan split during civil war in 1949 and today’s China — more militarily and economically powerful than Taiwan — claims that the Chinese Communists had directed the resistance against the Japanese. Mainland officials have argued that the Communists’ advice and fighting skills were crucial to the victory.

Taiwan’s Nationalist Party ruled all of China when Japan invaded parts of the country from 1931, forming a central stage of the Asian World War II theater. In one attack, the Japanese massacred between 40,000 and 300,000 Chinese in what has become known as the Nanjing Massacre.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/04
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) issued heavy rain warnings Saturday afternoon to 10 cities and counties, cautioning against sudden downpours, lightning and gusts.

The areas covered are New Taipei City, Yilan County, Taoyuan City, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Nantou County, Taichung City, Chiayi County, Kaohsiung City and Pingtung County.

The unstable weather is a result of strong convection above Taiwan, forecasters said.

In addition, Tropical Storm Linfa, which was 700 km south-southeast of Taiwan’s southernmost tip as of 2 p.m., could start affecting Taiwan on Sunday, according to the bureau.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-04
By: CNA

Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency (NIA) said Friday that a Spanish couple who

allegedly tried to smuggle two Sri Lankans out of Taiwan to Canada were arrested on Thursday.

The suspects were arrested at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport when they attempted to flee the country after coming under investigation following the arrest of the Sri Lankans on June 28, NIA officials said.

The trail to the Spaniards began when the Sri Lankans–an 18-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman–pretended to be transit passengers en route to Vancouver with fake Indian passports and Canadian visas, officials said.     [FULL  STORY]