Kwan Aij-lie (關皚麗), a surgeon and professor at Kaohsiung Medical University’s Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital, has been elected the first female president of the International College of Surgeons (ICS).
The ICS is a non-governmental organization founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1935, and has its headquarters in Chicago.
The Republic of China has been a member of the ICS since 1944.
Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung Medical University’s Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital
Kwan is the second Taiwanese to head the organization, after the late Lee Chun-jean (李俊仁), who practiced at National Taiwan University Hospital.
Born in Indonesia, Kwan said she had been determined to become a doctor when she was young and obtained a master’s degree in healthcare management and a doctorate from Kaohsiung Medical University’s Graduate Institute of Medicine.
She became Taiwan’s first female neurosurgeon and has so far performed more than 7,000 brain or spinal surgeries.
Kwan has been attending ICS events for more than 20 years, as well as medical missions in remote rural areas of more than 10 countries on six continents.
She once operated on a child with a tumor in an ill-equipped clinic on a small Indonesian island with a cell phone as the only light, the university said on Friday.
In the past few years, Kwan has been promoting the idea of “hope and help,” guiding young Taiwanese doctors to medical projects in remote areas around the world, the school said.
Kwan often tells herself to “just do it” and is passionate about everything she does, it said.
Kwan’s inauguration, originally scheduled for Jan. 1, was held at a dinner hosted by Kaohsiung Medical University’s Neuroscience Research Center on Friday.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday bestowed one of Taiwan’s highest honors on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Ambassador Andrea Clare Bowman in recognition of her contributions to bilateral ties. “By conferring the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Ambassador Bowman today, I want to sincerely thank her, on behalf of the Taiwanese people, for her outstanding contribution to deepening diplomatic ties between Taiwan and SVG,” Lai said at a ceremony held at the Presidential Office in Taipei. He noted that Bowman became SVG’s first ambassador to Taiwan in 2019 and
RSS