Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-18
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The story of a doctor’ s good deeds has touched the hearts of 250,000 people and shared on social

media 22,425 times in 16 hours after it was posted on Facebook.

It’s a story about National Taiwan University Hospital gynecologist Shih Jin-chung, who decided to operate on a woman with placenta accrete, knowing that she could not afford the costly operation as the National Pension is all the income she and her husband rely on for a living.

Photo from Shih Jin-chung’s Fabebook post

If synthetic hemostatic sealing agent is used in the operation, a dose of 5ml will cost nearly NT$20,000, and if the feared combination of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) happens, which can contribute to multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, sometimes the more expensive recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa), a synthetic coagulation protease, will have to be injected, which costs NT$150,000 for one treatment, Shih said of the operation in a Facebook post after he and his team successfully completed the operation and the woman gave birth to a baby on Monday.

According to the post, the pregnant woman said, “We don’t have income as we only rely on the National Pension.” After finishing talking, she began to shed tears, Shih said in the post.

“What can you do? The life needs to be saved, and the operation ought to be done,” the gynecologist said in his post, “I have made a pledge in the past to help women who suffer heavy bleeding during labor. Those with no money deserve more help from us.”    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/18
By: Hao Hsueh-chin and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) Police announced on Tuesday that they have shut down an online operation selling counterfeit designer goods, seizing fake products worth more than NT$10 million.

The operation was run by three women in the central city of Taichung, who were identified by their surnames Li, Lin and Wang, according to the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).

The trio allegedly sold counterfeit designer handbags and wallets purportedly from such brands as Chanel, LV, Hermes, Gucci, Celine and Dior for between NT$40,000 and NT$200,000 each via an online auction site, the bureau said.

To convince buyers that the items were authentic, the operation provided fake receipts showing they were purchased in Europe, the bureau said.   [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan Today
Date: October 17, 2016

Vice President Chen Chien-jen praised participants of the 2016 International Youth Ambassador Exchange Program Oct. 15 for their outstanding performance and contributions to Taiwan’s public diplomacy during an event at New Taipei City’s National Taiwan University of Arts.

“These youth ambassadors are the leaders of the next generation who will determine Taiwan’s future direction and elevate the nation’s international status,” he said while speaking during a ceremony showcasing the outcomes of this year’s program.

The event was attended by around 600 foreign dignitaries, officials and youth ambassadors, as well as their relatives and friends. The youth ambassadors staged performances that they had presented during their overseas tours, all of which were heavily influenced by the many unique ethnic groups found in Taiwan.

Launched in 2009 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the program seeks to enhance local youths’ international perspective and encourages them to explore the world and cultivate relationships. One-hundred university students took part in this year’s edition, themed “Dynamic Youth, Friendly Taiwan,” and completed six weeks of training before making three-week visits to 17 cities in 16 countries.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/17
By: Sophia Yeh and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 17 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) visited the Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei on Monday to pay homage to the country’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who passed away on Oct. 13.

At a makeshift memorial, Tsai extended her deepest condolences to Thailand for its loss of a great leader in a book of condolences.

“On behalf of the people of the Republic of China (Taiwan), I hereby extend my most profound condolences to the Royal Family and the people of Thailand for their loss of a great leader, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej,” Tsai wrote.

Several photos of a visit to Taiwan by the monarch, who was revered and loved by his people, were hung on the walls of the memorial hall.     [FULL  STORY]

‘CONSTITUTIONAL NONSENSE’:Hsu Chih-hsiung said that it is meaningless for the Constitution to say ROC territory includes China, adding that Taiwan is not ‘normal’

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 18, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter

Grand justice nominee Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄) said that Taiwan and China are sovereign states,

while the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution, which was formulated in China, is out of touch with Taiwanese society.

“Taiwan is a sovereign country, which no one can dispute. The People’s Republic of China [PRC] is also a country, on which we all agree,” Hsu said in response to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko Chih-en’s (柯志恩) question at a legislative review of the grand justice nominees on how Hsu, a supporter of the “two-nation theory,” understood the cross-strait relationship.

“Both [Taiwan and China] are countries. It is up to the 23 million Taiwanese to decide the nation’s direction,” Hsu said.

The ROC title has different meanings, as it is Taiwan’s official name, while it means the PRC in the UN charter as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Hsu said.

The China Post
Date: October 18, 2016
By: Yuan-Ming Chiao

TAIPEI, Taiwan — President Tsai Ing-wen visited Thailand’s representative office in Taipei on Monday

to pay respects after the death of the country’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej last week.

The president visited a makeshift memorial at the Thailand Trade and Economic Office, clasping her hands together and bowing to Thai diplomatic officials who received her in a room bedecked in white and black and vases with white flowers and a painting of the late Bhumibol.

Thai officials showed the president a wall of photos depicting the king’s state visit to Taiwan in 1963, in which the king could be seen accompanied by host former President Chiang Kai-shek.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Office denied local media reports that Tsai was planning to make a trip to attend the king’s funeral in Thailand and had requested that national carrier China Airlines prepare a chartered flight for such purposes.

“Such a report does not conform to the truth. We have made no such plans,” the Presidential Office said in a subsequent statement.    [FULL  STORY]

The tragic ending to a 35-year relationship has sparked renewed pressure on the Tsai administration to legalize same-sex marriage.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/10/17
By: Mo Tz-pin

The sudden death of a well-known French professor in Taiwan, whose partner recently died from

cancer, has led to calls for the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) government to make good on promises to legalize same sex marriage.

On Oct. 16, Jacques Picoux (畢安生) died after falling from the 10th floor of a building in Wenshan District, southern Taipei.

Police found no signs of a struggle and have suggested that Picoux committed suicide, state-run CNA reports. The investigations continues.

Picoux, 68, was born and raised in France. He came to Taiwan in 1979 with his colleague Françoise Zylberberg (施蘭芳) on a two-year exchange and decided to stay on after the program ended. He went on to become a French professor at National Taiwan University (NTU) and was commonly known as “Professor Bi” (畢教授).    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/17
By: Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 17 (CNA) A magnitude-3.9 earthquake rattled Kaohsiung at 2:31 p.m. on Monday afternoon, according to Central Weather Bureau (CWB) data.

The earthquake was centered in Liugui District in Kaohsiung, 36.8 kilometers north-northeast of the Pingtung County government offices, at a depth of 20.8 kilometers.

It was felt in Jiaxian District in Kaohsiung, in Sandimen in Pingtung County and in parts of Tainan city, but its intensity level was only 1 on Taiwan’s 1-7 earthquake intensity scale, indicating minor shaking.

No damage was reported.    [SOURCE]