One of the nation’s first conjoined twins to be successfully separated 40 years ago died of a brain hemorrhage yesterday, his family said.
Chang Chung-jen (張忠仁), 42, the older of the two, collapsed at work on Thursday and died early yesterday morning, his family said.
In 1979, Chang and his brother, Chang Chung-i (張忠義), were Taiwan’s first and the world’s fourth conjoined twins to be successfully separated.
Photo: CNA
According to Chang Chung-jen’s most recent post on Facebook, he had been planning to improve his public speaking skills so that he could share his story with more people this year, the 40th anniversary of their separation.
“I will go on living for my brother,” Chang Chung-i said yesterday, adding that they stood in for each other at work and took care of one another all the time.
Chen Wei-jao (陳維昭), who organized the twins’ surgery and was in charge of their postoperative care, said that Chang Chung-jen’s death was unexpected because no anomalies were found in his most recent medical examination.
The twins were expected to live only until their 20s based on the preoperative assessment, but they were able to lead normal lives, Chen said
The doctor said that Chang Chung-jen’s brain hemorrhage might have been caused by physical exhaustion, as he devoted himself to charity and had been traveling for years, sharing his stories and expressing his gratitude to the public, who donated more than NT$7 million (US$227,679 at the current exchange rate) to help raise the brothers.
The first two F-16V Block 70 jets Taiwan purchased from the US were spotted unexpectedly turning back after departing from Hawaii yesterday, potentially further delaying delivery of the aircraft. Taiwan has purchased 66 of the F-16 C/D Block 70 jets to be deployed at Chihhang Air Base (志航基地) in Taitung County and operated by the air force's 7th Tactical Fighter Wing to defend Taiwan’s eastern region. Two single-seat jets, bearing serial No. 6727 and 6728, were spotted taking off from Hickam Field in Hawaii yesterday, observers said. Based on the precedent set during the delivery of Taiwan's older F-16 Block 20s, the new
Taiwan’s growing defense preparations might be sending a stronger signal to the US than to Beijing, highlighting the need for Taipei to tailor its deterrence efforts to different audiences, a US security academic said yesterday. Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies fellow Oriana Skylar Mastro made the comment during a Taipei Security Dialogue panel examining lessons Taiwan could draw from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Mastro said she was impressed by Taiwan’s increased defense spending, emphasis on asymmetric capabilities and efforts to prepare society for conflict, but questioned whom those initiatives were influencing. She said when she asked
SIZE MATTERS: Large ships are politically attractive as visible symbols of national defense, but small surface combatants are more likely to survive an initial strike Taiwan needs to restructure its naval fleet from focusing on large warships, which are “sitting ducks” for China’s advanced tracking technology, to smaller, stealthy corvettes that are harder to detect but retain sufficient firepower to deter a Chinese invasion, a Taiwanese academic and a former US military commander said in an article published on Friday in the journal Foreign Affairs. Taiwan does not need a fleet capable of competing with the Chinese navy for traditional control of the Taiwan Strait, but rather “sea denial” capabilities that would prevent China from freely using the waterway, Taiwanese aerospace and security expert Holmes Liao
A total of 400 foreign “high- level” professionals have been naturalized as Republic of China (Taiwan) citizens over the past decade as the government has eased nationality rules to attract talent from a wider range of fields, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The 400th high-level professional, who works in the electronics industry, was approved for ROC citizenship on Aug. 26, the MOI said. The MOI quoted the newly naturalized citizen as saying that Taiwan is a leader in fields such as semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, artificial intelligence development and energy technology. He also said
RSS