Hsi-hsi knew she would never enjoy a wedding night, a honeymoon, or even a future with Wei-bi when she married him last year. Their wedding was held in an intensive care unit in Taipei, where a paralyzed Wei-bi was receiving treatment.
"My husband was so strong and healthy when we first met [in 1999]," Hsi-hsi said, adding that Wei-bi became progressively sicker beginning early last year, and never recovered.
Not long after their wedding, Wei-bi succumbed to AIDS.
"My husband would have wanted me to be here today, working to prevent AIDS," Hsi-hsi told reporters at a press conference at the Taiwan AIDS Foundation's headquarters in Taipei yesterday.
The foundation had called the conference to announce that it will be holding a fundraising drive on Aug. 30 -- Chinese Valentine's Day.
"Valentine's Day is just around the corner," foundation chairman Twu Shiing-jer (
"So, this is the perfect time for us to promote a romantic but safe holiday," he said.
According to the foundation, games and activities for couples, and a concert will be held at the square near Warner Village Cinema on Wednesday.
People who donate at least NT$100 to the foundation at the event will receive NT$500 worth of fruit-flavored condoms, said Lin Chiung-chao (
Lin said the foundation would promote awareness of AIDS and safe sex at Wednesday's event.
"Since an AIDS vaccine or a cure still doesn't exist, we must focus on prevention," said Nick Liao (
Prevention and early detection were the themes of the conference, with Hsi-hsi pleading for couples to use condoms and to learn more about HIV/AIDS.
"It was because my husband and I used condoms that I was able to avoid contracting the disease," she said, adding that if only she and Wei-bi had been tested for AIDS sooner, he would probably be alive and healthy today.
Tsai Su-fen (
"If one is diagnosed early, and starts treatment in the early stages of the disease, AIDS is quite manageable, and one can lead a fairly normal life," Tsai told reporters.
As for how people with HIV/AIDS are received in society, Tsai said that 80 percent of those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS were accepted by their family members and associates, leading fairly normal lives.
"However, there is always a segment of HIV/AIDS-infected people who are ostracized by their family members or fired by employers because of the disease," Tsai said.
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
The US-Japan joint statement released on Friday not mentioning the “one China” policy might be a sign that US President Donald Trump intends to decouple US-China relations from Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said. Following Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the US and Japan issued a joint statement where they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Trump has not personally brought up the “one China” policy in more than a year, National Taiwan University Department of Political Science Associate Professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民)
‘NEVER!’ Taiwan FactCheck Center said it had only received donations from the Open Society Foundations, which supports nonprofits that promote democratic values Taiwan FactCheck Center (TFC) has never received any donation from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a cofounder of the organization wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday. The Taipei-based organization was established in 2018 by Taiwan Media Watch Foundation and the Association of Quality Journalism to monitor and verify news and information accuracy. It was officially registered as a foundation in 2021. National Chung Cheng University communications professor Lo Shih-hung (羅世宏), a cofounder and chairman of TFC, was responding to online rumors that the TFC receives funding from the US government’s humanitarian assistance agency via the Open Society Foundations (OSF),
ANNUAL LIGHT SHOW: The lanterns are exhibited near Taoyuan’s high-speed rail station and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the airport MRT line More than 400 lanterns are to be on display at the annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, which officially starts in Taoyuan today. The city is hosting the festival for the second time — the first time was in 2016. The Tourism Administration held a rehearsal of the festival last night. Chunghwa Telecom donated the main lantern of the festival to the Taoyuan City Government. The lanterns are exhibited in two main areas: near the high-speed rail (HSR) station in Taoyuan, which is at the A18 station of the Taoyuan Airport MRT, and around the Taoyuan Sports Park Station of the MRT