The new Shanghai Ruidong Hospital, recently bought out by a Taiwanese company headed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) heavyweight Hsu Li-teh (徐立德), was inaugurated on Thursday as an institution providing upscale medical care mainly to China-based Taiwanese businesspeople and their families.
The hospital, formerly the Pudong branch of the Shanghai Ruijin Hospital, an affiliate of the Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, is the first Taiwanese-financed hospital in the Shanghai area to obtain a business license from Chinese authorities.
Addressing the opening, Hsu, who served as Taiwan’s vice premier between 1993 and 1997, said the hospital was an “invaluable product” of cross-strait collaboration and peaceful exchanges.
“I expect this hospital will not only provide sound medical services to Taiwanese people living in China, it will also kick start a new mode of cooperation between medical sectors across the [Taiwan] Strait,” Hsu said.
He said Taipei-based Global Investment Holdings (GIH), for which he serves as chairman, spent about NT$200 million (US$6.2 million) to acquire a 55 percent share in the hospital.
“No KMT funds were used in the investment,” Hsu said, dismissing speculation that he might be the KMT’s figurehead in the joint venture.
Hsu said that GIH received approval for the investment from the then-Democratic Progressive Party administration three years ago.
Hsu said that he hoped that in the future Taiwanese living in China would be able to use Republic of China national insurance cards at Taiwanese-financed hospitals in the country, such as the Shanghai Ruidong Hospital.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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