Coroners yesterday praised a new National Taiwan University department to train those wanting to join their profession, saying that it would go a long way to alleviating the nation's chronic shortage of coroners.
"The new Forensic Medicine Graduate School will be able to educate more qualified coroners in the future. No question about it," said Shih Tai-ping (石台平), director of the Forensic Medicine Department of the National Police Administration's Criminal Investigation Bureau (刑事警察局). "We definitely need more young people to devote themselves to this business."
The university could not be reached for comment yesterday. However, according to an announcement it made last week, no schedule has been set for the graduate school, which would be the first of its kind in the country.
According to the Forensic Medicine Research Center of the Ministry of Justice, there are 60 coroners in Taiwan. Although they all went through the Ministry of Justice's forensic medical training course and passed the exam, not all of them are medical school graduates. Taiwan requires between 80 and 100 coroners, according to the ministry.
To enter the department, candidates can be graduates in any related field, such as dentistry or veterinary science. As a benchmark, just 10 of Taiwan's 60 coroners meet US forensic requirements, which are much more stringent than those of Taiwan.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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