Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/02
By: Lung Pei-ning and Romulo Huang

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) The first shipment of cadaver skin acquired from the United States for the treatment of hundreds of victims of the colored powder explosion at a New Taipei water park is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan on Friday night, director general of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Chiang Yu-mei (姜郁美), said Thursday.

The shipment of 37.000 square centimeters of cadaver skin, transported by a FedEx plane, will arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, in northern Taiwan, between 10 and 11 p.m. Friday night, Chiang noted, adding that the second shipment of cadaver skin acquired from the U.S., some 60.000 square centimeters, is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan on July 12.

Another shipment of cadaver skin acquired from the Netherlands is now being arranged and is expected to arrive in Taiwan soon, the FDA head added.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-02
By: Xinhua

Courts on mainland China and Taiwan cooperated on 10,678 cases in 2014 under a

mutual judicial assistance agreement, China’s Supreme People’s Court revealed Tuesday.

Courts across the Taiwan Strait applied for legal documents from the other side and helped each other in the investigation of suspects, evidence collection and transfer of items related to crime, the SPC said.

The mainland court delivered 7,089 legal documents to Taiwan last year, and asked Taiwan for 3,190 documents.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 03, 2015
By: Jake Chung  /  Staff writer, with CNA

Japanese physicians Shigeru Suganami and Yoshihito Ujike yesterday visited the

Tri-Service General Hospital in Taipei to evaluate the needs of people injured during the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) incident and pledged medical aid as well as workers to help healthcare facilities across the nation, as they struggle to cope with the number of burns patients.

The incident at the park in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里) on Saturday last week saw nearly 500 injured when a series of fireballs, apparently caused by ignited powder sprayed over the crowd, engulfed young people at a dance event at about 8:30pm.

Association of Medical Doctors of Asia president Suganami said the pair’s visit represented the mutual medical assistance between the two nations.     [FULL  STORY]

Images show Chinese airstrip on man-made Spratly island nearly finished

Reuters
Date: Jul 1, 2015

China has almost finished building a 3,000-metre-long (10,000-foot) airstrip on one of its

artificial islands in the disputed Spratly archipelago of the South China Sea, new satellite photographs of the area show.

A U.S. military commander had told Reuters in May that the airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef could be operational by year-end, although the June 28 images suggest that could now be sooner.

The airstrip will be long enough to accommodate most Chinese military aircraft, security experts have said, giving Beijing greater reach into the heart of maritime Southeast Asia.

China said on Tuesday some of its land reclamation in the Spratlys, where it’s building seven islands on top of coral reefs, had been completed, although it gave few details.

The latest photographs were taken by satellite imagery firm DigitalGlobe and published by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. (amti.csis.org/)

AMTI said the airstrip was being paved and marked, while an apron and taxiway had been added adjacent to the runway.     [FULL  STORY]

Malaysiakini
Date: Jul 1, 2015
By: dpa

A nearly completed nuclear plant in Taiwan was mothballed today, with plans for maintenance and possible future operation, but activists pressed for a total ban on its use.

The plan to mothball the Longmen plant in northern Taiwan was approved by the Atomic Energy Council, after the government decided in April 2014 to postpone its operation indefinitely.

Strong anti-nuclear sentiment arose after the 2011 Fukushima disaster in neighbouring Japan, where three commercial reactors melted down.

The state-run Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) said it would keep all options open for future operation.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/02
By: Liao Jen-kai and Jay Chen

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) A second victim in the fiery blast in New Taipei last Saturday

succumbed to his wounds early Thursday despite efforts by medical staff and celebrities to help him recover, doctors said.

Liu Chih-wei (劉致葦), a promising design student at Taipei College of Maritime Technology, was pronounced dead at Taichung Veterans General Hospital at 5:41 a.m., doctors said.

The 19-year-old sustained burns to over 90 percent of his body when a large amount of cornstarch powder sprayed during a party at Formosa Fun Coast water park was ignited, causing injuries to nearly 500 party-goers.

Liu was a fan of pop singer Jolin Tsai and Taiwanese-American fashion designer Jason Wu, both of whom sent recorded messages or flowers earlier this week to show sympathy and support.

Another victim, a 20-year-old girl, died on Monday and some 270 of those injured in the blast remained in intensive care units as of Wednesday.

Dna India
Date: 1 July 2015
By: Agency: Reuters

Young Taiwan activists have tied themselves up in chains, blocked mountain roads, scaled fencesand thrown red paint balloons in a wave of anti-China sentiment likely to turn the island’s politics on its head in January’s presidential election.

Young Taiwan activists have tied themselves up in chains, blocked mountain roads, scaled fencesand thrown red paint balloons in a wave of anti-China sentiment likely to turn the island’s politics on its head in January’s presidential election.

An energetic and fast-growing youth movement, united in suspicion of economic and cultural dependence on China, is expected to sweep in a president from a party which favours independence from China, something Communist Party rulers across the narrow Taiwan Strait will never allow.

“When my generation comes of age, Taiwan’s cross-strait attitude is going to be very different,” said student movement leader Huang Yen-ju. “We want China to treat us like a country.”     [FULL  STORY]

CBS News
July 1, 2015

TAIPEI, Taiwan – The father of an American who was badly burned in a sudden inferno at

a Taiwan water park said Wednesday that the family was anxious about how the young man would fare in the next few days.

Roger Haas of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, said his son Alex Haas, 26, is fighting for his life after 90 percent of his body and his lungs were burned.

He said the family faults the park management for the fire last Saturday that killed one person and burned hundreds more.

“We are in no way holding the country of Taiwan responsible for any of this at all,” the father said. “However, there is a responsibility here, and it is with the water park and people that did not take the time to consider the situation of spraying the powder onto the public.”     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/01
By: T.W. Hsu and Lillian Lin

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) A doctor at the Cathay General Hospital said Wednesday that it was heart-breaking for doctors and nurses to see that even morphine could not kill the pain of the victims burned June 27 in a fire ignited by colored powder at a water park.

C.T. Yao (姚鍾太) and Chiu Tsai-lun (邱彩綸), a nurse, gave a briefing on the treatment of the hundreds of patients rushed to the hospital in the wake of the tragedy when the colored powder being sprayed onto partygoers ignited.

Some patients suffered 90 percent burns and Yao said it was the first time in his 30 years of practice to treat pain that could not be soothed by morphine.

Treating the patients, most of whom are young, many of the younger nurses found it difficult to hide their shock upon seeing their terrible injuries and to remain calm so that they could give some comfort to the young victims, according to Chiu.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-01
By: CNA

People who smoke while driving or riding a motorcycle may be fined NT$600 (US$19.40)

beginning July 1, Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Tuesday.

The fine will be applied when a complaint is filed against a motorist for smoking and potentially endangering public safety.

Smoking while driving or riding a motorcycle is seen as endangering the safety of other road users because cigarette butts or ashes can fly in the wind and burn or affect other road users, and smoke can also affect motorists’ visibility, the ministry said.

In principle, the law has set the range of the potentially dangerous effect of cigarette smoking at 3.5 meters, but if people who file complaints can prove they were affected beyond this distance, the smoking motorists will also be fined, it said.     [FULL  STORY]