An 80-year-old man, Liu Po-yan (劉柏煙), who sustained second and third degree burns over more than 80 percent of his body on Tuesday after setting himself on fire in a protest at Liberty Square was still in critical condition in National Taiwan University Hospital’s intensive care unit yesterday, hospital officials said.
“Liu has gone through a series of debridement surgeries, one of which occurred [yesterday],” the hospital told the Taipei Times.
The hospital said that there was no word on when Liu’s life would be out of danger, adding that skin transplant surgery would be scheduled soon.
Liu on Tuesday staged the demonstration by pouring gasoline and burning himself in protest at the government’s affront to national dignity during the visit last week by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
In a suicide note, Liu claimed that he had been a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for some 30 years and expressed dismay toward the government’s handling of Chen’s visit.
“I saw pedestrians walking on the street holding the national flag and getting arrested by the police, who even broke the flag pole. I saw many police officers beating people without consequences. I hear that sixteen ordinary people have been arrested and will be indicted. If so, are the thousands of police who hit people going to be given citations of merit?” the note said.
“When Chen [Yunlin] met the president, he pointed at the president and said, ‘you, you, you.’ I see that the president smiled and was very happy … If China sends an even higher ranking official, would the president kneel to receive him?” the note said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
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