Master Hsing Yun (星雲法師), founder of Buddhist organization Fo Guang Shan, is in stable condition after suffering a stroke, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital said yesterday.
The master was rushed to the hospital by his followers on Monday night after he felt numbness on his left side, including his hand and foot.
The hospital immediately formed a team to treat him and confirmed that he was suffering from blood-vessel sclerosis in his brain and an ischemic stroke.
The hospital said that Master Hsing Yun, 84, has a history of high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high blood lipids and heart disease.
He checked into the hospital after a stroke in October and had recovered from that, but he had been fatigued in recent days from activities related to the opening of a Buddha Memorial Center in Greater Kaohsiung, Fo Guang Shan Monastery said.
The hospital said although he was in stable condition, he would remain there for observation for the time being.
Both President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Democratic Progressive Party Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) sent Master Hsing Yun their regards yesterday, expressing their concern.
In related news, Tsai and first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) yesterday visited the Buddha Memorial Center.
The five-story memorial hall was unveiled on Sunday after nine years of construction. The 4,000 ping (13,223m2) complex has eight stupas, 48 underground palaces and the nation’s tallest Buddha statue at 108m high.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon