HEALTH
Chen in stable condition
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was in a stable condition after undergoing a cardiac catheterization procedure yesterday at the Taoyuan General Hospital, sources said. It was unnecessary to insert a stent, or tube, into Chen’s coronary arteries, said Hsu Jin-chyr (徐錦池), the hospital’s deputy superintendent, adding that Chen only needed to take medicine after the invasive diagnostic procedure. Chen had been transferred to a guarded room for further observation, Hsu said, adding that there were problems with the arteries around Chen’s heart and an abnormal level of fat in his blood. The procedure was performed after the former leader complained of chest pains and shortness of breath, symptoms of acute coronary syndrome, the hospital said. Asked whether Chen would stay at the hospital for a week as suggested a day earlier, Hsu said Chen had other medical conditions and that further observation was needed. He declined to elaborate further, citing patient confidentiality. Chen’s wife, Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍), paid a visit to her husband yesterday with her son, Chen Chih-chung (陳致中), daughter-in-law, Huang Jui-ching (黃睿靚), and daughter, Chen Hsing-yu (陳幸妤).
POLITICS
Ma looking to cut expenses
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), on Wednesday urged party members to be more economical when it comes to spending, saying that personal expenditure were eroding the party’s coffers. Out of the more than NT$1.9 billion (US$64.3 million) budget earmarked for this year, expenses and allowances take up NT$1.3 billion, or more than three-quarters of the total budget for party operations, according to officials who attended the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting on Wednesday when the KMT’s budget for this year was passed. In particular, expenditure related to retirees accounts for a greater portion of expenses than that related to members who are still in service, officials said. In response to the request from some committee members that more money to be allocated to party chapters in the south, Ma said the party was strapped for cash. The party will be further squeezed once its assets are sold off, Ma said.
DIPLOMACY
Ministry thanks US Congress
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its appreciation yesterday to the US Congress, which has adopted a resolution in favor of observer status for Taiwan in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The move fully demonstrates that the US Congress supports Taiwan’s efforts to participate in the international community, the ministry said in a statement. Passed a day earlier by the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, the resolution states that meaningful participation by Taiwan as an observer in ICAO meetings and activities would contribute both to the fulfillment of the ICAO’s overarching mission and to the success of a global strategy to address aviation security threats based on effective international cooperation.
SPORTS
Taiwanese scoop medals
Taiwan won 12 gold, nine silver and two bronze medals at this year’s Hong Kong Wushu International Championships, according to a local martial art association on Wednesday. Seven members of the Chinese Shaolin Zen Martial Arts Association attended the invitational competition held in Hong Kong late last month and they won a total of 23 medals at the contest.
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not