Taiwanese parents are three times more likely than Americans to kill their children along with themselves when they commit suicide, because Asians traditionally see their children as their personal possession, according to a study released yesterday.
The report, conducted by the Dr. Sun Yat-sen University Hospital, said that between 1992 and 2001, there were 78 cases of parents also killing their children when they committed suicide.
"In 2001, 2,500 Taiwanese committed suicide. Of those, there were 18 parent-child suicides, accounting for 0.72 per cent of the total number of suicides," it said.
"This is three times higher than the number of parent-[child] suicides in the US," the report said.
Most of the Taiwanese parents were middle-aged when they killed their children and committed suicide, the report said. They ended their lives for reasons of unemployment, debt, marital troubles or mental problems.
The children they killed were mainly infants.
Taiwan mothers are twice as likely as fathers to kill their children when they commit suicide.
The high number of parent-child suicides results from Asian traditions, in which adults are seen as having the right to decide their children's life and death.
When the parents want to commit suicide, they take along their children under the excuse that if they left their children behind, no one would care for them, the report said.
Taiwan has one of the highest suicide rates in Asia. Last year, 3,053 Taiwanese committed suicide, an average of eight suicides per day or one suicide every three hours. The suicide rate was 14.1 suicides for every 100,000 people.
Lithuania has the world's highest suicide rate, with 44 suicides per 100,000 people.
In Asia, Japan has the highest suicide rate with 25 suicides for every 100,000 people.
Last year, 32,082 Japanese committed suicide, averaging 87 suicides per day or one suicide every 15 minutes.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
BACK TO WINTER: A strong continental cold air mass would move south on Tuesday next week, bringing colder temperatures to northern and central Taiwan A tropical depression east of the Philippines could soon be upgraded to be the first tropical storm of this year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the next cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Monday next week. CWA forecaster Cheng Jie-ren (鄭傑仁) said the first tropical depression of this year is over waters east of the Philippines, about 1,867km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), and could strengthen into Tropical Storm Nokaen by early today. The system is moving slowly from northwest to north, and is expected to remain east of the Philippines with little chance of affecting Taiwan,
The military yesterday said it has located the flight data recorder, or black box, of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan earlier this month, and it would soon deploy a salvage team to try to retrieve it. Air Force Command Headquarters said that while it had pinned down the location of the black box, it was still searching for the aircraft’s sole pilot, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅). Without providing details, the air force said it had located the black box days after detecting some intermittent signals and would now engage a team of professionals to retrieve it. The air
RSS