President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mother passed away in Taipei yesterday evening after multiple organ failure.
The death of Chin Hou-hsiu (秦厚修), 93, who was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease more than two years ago, was announced by Taipei Municipal Wan Fang Hospital, which earlier in the day issued a statement about Chin being admitted on April 2.
According to the hospital, Chin was conscious when the president paid her a visit late yesterday afternoon. Shortly after Ma departed, Chin passed away at 6:16pm, it said.
The Ma family will not send out obituary notices or hold a public memorial ceremony, and will decline any visits or gifts, it added.
Earlier yesterday in the statement issued by the hospital, it said that Chin had been in the intensive care unit following being admitted to the hospital on April 2 for a number of health complications.
The statement said Chin was admitted to the hospital after she came down with acute viral infections caused by a chronic lung disease.
A physical found she had an excessive number of white blood cells and had developed gastric bleeding on April 7. After treatment the infections improved, but Chin’s chronic obstructive pulmonary disease failed to improve, leaving her at risk of cardiopulmonary failure, the statement said.
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex