The Republic of China is now listed as “Taiwan” on the Web site of the International College of Surgeons (ICS) after efforts by a Taiwanese doctor to have the listing rectified.
Previously, Taiwan was listed as “Taiwan, China” on the “Our Leadership” section of the Web site.
Kaohsiung Medical University’s Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital surgeon and professor Kwan Aij-lie (關皚麗) — who is also world president on the ICS’ International Executive Council — fought to have the name changed, finding success last month.
Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung Medical University
The ICS, founded in 1935, is a non-governmental organization headquartered in Chicago, with 106 member states, including Taiwan. Kwan, who took over as head of the ICS earlier this year, is the first woman to hold the position since the organization’s founding 87 years ago.
After assuming the position, she rallied support for the name change at ICS conferences and events, and through approaching the representatives of other countries.
Kwan said in an interview on Thursday that despite friendly relations between ICS members, she felt embarrassed to ask others in the organization to support her efforts regarding the name, particularly when she had to push others on the issue.
“However, my feeling was that if someone does not support it the first time, it does not mean they will never support it,” she said.
ICS last month held a council meeting to put the issue to a vote, which was passed by a majority. Council members from Taiwan, Paraguay, Nigeria, the US and Poland voted in favor of the name change, while Hong Kong abstained and two other members voted against the change, she said.
“Medicine knows no borders, and Taiwan’s medical contributions have been recognized internationally,” she said.
Kwan said she plans to visit Guatemala, Mexico and other countries next year to work in free clinics to demonstrate the spirit of humanitarian aid, and to let more people know about Taiwan.
A recently discovered supernova is the brightest and closest to Earth identified in the past decade, and can be observed with basic equipment, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said on Wednesday. The supernova has an absolute magnitude of 14.9 in luminosity and is in the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) about 21 million light-years from Earth. It was discovered early on May 20 by Japanese amateur astronomer Koichi Itagaki, who immediately reported the finding to the International Astronomical Union, the museum said. The supernova was designated SN 2023ixf following the astronomical naming conventions for supernovas, it added. The museum said that it observed
Tropical storm Guchol is moving in a northeasterly direction off the east coast of the Philippines and will not hit Taiwan, but will impact local weather starting on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said Thursday. The storm would bring a low-pressure system northward toward the vicinity of Taiwan, forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. Northern Taiwan will see intermittent rain showers in the morning, and thunderstorms in the afternoon on Friday, he said, adding that rain would be heavier on the east coast and in the central-southern mountainous areas. Rainfall would continue into Saturday, and would spread throughout Taiwan proper, he
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
A man was arrested in Hsinchu on Saturday on suspicion of filming women in the women’s washroom of a shopping mall in the city, local Chinese-language media reported on Thursday. The man was arrested at around noon on Saturday when a woman using a stall in the mall’s washroom noticed a cellphone being held above her from the neighboring stall, reports said. The woman ran out of the washroom and yelled to her husband to help her, after which the suspect – who was dressed as a woman – attempted to flee, but was subdued by other men until police