HEALTH
Acupuncture aids rehab
Acupuncture stimulation could help blood circulation in patients who have suffered strokes, a recent study conducted by a team of local doctors showed. The study, published in last month’s edition of Microvascular Research, documented the therapeutic effects of acupuncture on 18 patients who had suffered strokes, Taipei City Hospital said. The patients, all in the rehabilitation stage, received acupuncture in certain areas associated with improved blood flow and were later tested for changes, said Chen Chao-tsung (陳朝宗), director of traditional medicine at the hospital. The results showed that acupuncture can decrease blood flow resistance and increase microcirculatory blood flow, a situation that is deemed helpful for the recovery of stroke patients, he said. “The main contribution made by this research was its evaluation of acupuncture therapy in a scientific way,” Chen said. The next step would be to come up with more scientific evidence to explain how acupuncture stimulation can be used to supplement Western treatments for strokes, he said.
POLITICS
DPP couple marries
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) yesterday married her long-time boyfriend, Greater Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Lee Yung-te (李永得), in a long-expected and low-profile civil ceremony. Chiu, 39, met Lee, 55, when the two served as vice minister and minister, respectively, at the Council for Hakka Affairs. “Lee wanted us to marry while I am still in my 30s,” Chiu told reporters. Lee added he would “do my best to have at least three children,” although Chiu said that she would first focus on her re-election campaign. The ceremony, held at a public office in Greater Kaohsiung, was attended by Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), while DPP lawmakers in the legislature wished the couple all the best.
DIPLOMACY
Wang delivers donation
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) handed over a disaster relief donation of ￥1 billion (US$12 million) to Japan yesterday in Tokyo on behalf of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Wang said Japan had made a great contribution to the relief work in Taiwan after a deadly earthquake in 1999 and again after Typhoon Morakot in 2009. Taiwan will never forget Japan’s kindness, said Wang, who is leading a delegation on a visit to Japan. Adding that Japan’s tourism industry has been affected by the nuclear crisis that developed there after a devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11, Wang said he would lead another delegation to Hokkaido to show his support for the country. Taiwan held a TV fundraiser on March 18, raising ￥2.1 billion within four hours. To date, Taiwan has donated a total of ￥14.4 billion to the disaster relief efforts in Japan.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
Hu offers Lien delegates
Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) will send delegates to a memorial service for former vice president Lien Chan’s (連戰) mother, Chao Lan-kun (趙蘭坤), who passed away on Sunday at the age of 103, Lien’s spokesman Ting Yuan-chao (丁遠超) said. Ting said that upon learning of Chao’s death, Hu extended condolences to Lien and offered to send a delegation to Taiwan, an offer Lien politely declined. However, Hu said he wanted to express his sympathy by sending “one or two non-official delegates” to the funeral on Thursday next week, so Lien agreed, Ting said. The memorial service for Chao will be held at the Taipei Wesley Methodist Church, Ting added.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
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