A Taiwanese sports legend is set to return to Taiwan tonight for urgent medical treatment after an e-mail his son sent to the Taipei Times eventually won him assistance from the government.
On Dec. 30, the Taipei Times received an e-mail from Cedric Yang, son of former decathlon champion Yang Chuan-kuang (
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
"The UCLA Medical Center wants to admit him and place him on a waiting list for a liver transplant ... however, his doctor refuses to refer him to UCLA," the e-mail said, referring to the renowned Los Angeles hospital.
Without the doctor's referral, the insurance company would not cover the expenses.
The Taipei Times immediately forwarded the letter to its sister newspaper, the Liberty Times, which ran a story about Yang's plight on Jan. 1. Other Chinese-language media followed suit the next day.
The news drew the attention of the Cabinet-level National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (
Yang has been in a stable condition, but both Yang and his relatives wanted him to receive his treatment in Taiwan, said council vice chairman Cheng Chih-fu (鄭志富).
Cheng said the council is willing to help Yang until he completely recovers, noting that he has in the past won numerous honors for Taiwan in the international arena.
Rick Chu (朱立熙), editor in chief of the Taipei Times, said the decision to run the initial news story in a Chinese-language paper has proven effective. "I thought it would be more useful to run the story in the Liberty Times, which has a much larger circulation and local readership," Chu explained.
Yang, who is separated from his American wife, left for the US just before Christmas to visit his son in California. He fell sick there during the holiday.
Yang, known as the "Asian Iron Man" in international sports circles, was born to an Aboriginal Ami family in Taitung County in 1933. He was the first-ever Asian athlete to win an Olympic silver medal in the decathlon, which he secured at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
It was also the first-ever Olympic medal for Taiwan.
Yang went on to break the world decathlon record at the 1963 International Decathlon in San Antonio, Texas. After his retirement from competition, Yang continued to train young Taiwan athletes and served as a consultant to athletic organizations for many years.
Yang also dabbled briefly in politics and was elected to the legislature in 1983.
Yang has shifted his focus to religion and the occult in recent years, running a temple he established more than 20 years ago in Taitung and serving as a medium there. He has also been facing financial difficulties in recent years.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft