Former premier Yu Kuo-hwa (俞國華) died at roughly 4pm yesterday at the Veterans' General Hospital (榮民總醫院) in Taipei after experiencing complications related to leukemia. He was 87 years old.
Yu had been hospitalized earlier due to his worsening condition. After developing critical pneumonedema last week, doctors transferred him to intensive care.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) visited Yu at his hospital bedside on Monday.
The former premier was born on Jan. 10, 1914, in Fenghua (奉化), Zhejiang Province (浙江省). He earned a graduate degree from Harvard University and also studied at the London School of Economics. In addition, Yu received a honorary doctorate from St John's University.
Yu was appointed as the Minister of Finance in 1967, and two years later he was named as central bank governor. Because of his outstanding performance, Yu was promoted to premier and served between 1984 and 1989.
During his five years of service, the former premier created the Council of Labor Affairs and the Environmental Protection Administration.
Yu also lifted the ban on Taiwanese visiting their relatives in China, abolished limitations against the press and ended martial law.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
EASING ANXIETY: The new guide includes a section encouraging people to discuss the threat of war with their children and teach them how to recognize disinformation The Ministry of National Defense’s All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency yesterday released its updated civil defense handbook, which defines the types of potential military aggression by an “enemy state” and self-protection tips in such scenarios. The agency has released three editions of the handbook since 2022, covering information from the preparation of go-bags to survival tips during natural disasters and war. Compared with the previous edition, released in 2023, the latest version has a clearer focus on wartime scenarios. It includes a section outlining six types of potential military threats Taiwan could face, including destruction of critical infrastructure and most undersea cables, resulting in
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km