Sung Yen-jen (
Sung filled the post vacated by Chang Hang (張珩), who resigned last month to assume responsibility for a medical incident involving the Taipei Municipal Hospital's Jen Ai branch. Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Chang will from now on serve exclusively as Taipei Municipal Hospital superintendent. Ma said he hopes Chang and Sung will work hand-in-hand to plug holes in the city's emergency medical service system and streamline its patient transfer operations to prevent a recurrence of the tragedy of an abused girl who was refused admission to the municipal hospital's Jen Ai branch after being critically injured by her abusive father. The girl ended up being transported to a hospital more than 100km away to Taichung County for surgery.
The 4-year-old girl, surnamed Chiu, was pronounced brain dead and died two weeks after surgery, which failed to improve her condition. Her family later donated her kidneys and liver, which have each been successfully transplanted into two female patients.
Chiu's ordeal triggered an uproar which led to an investigation into why the 4-year-old was refused treatment when there were sufficient beds in major Taipei hospitals. The Jen Ai hospital's superintendent and a neurosurgeon at the hospital have been disciplined over the incident.
After the incident, the Department of Health announced that it would overhaul the existing system for patient transfers. The new system will take effect in June.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan