The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denied a media report that it did not provide assistance to a Taiwanese national who was hospitalized during a trip to Switzerland.
CTi News on its YouTube channel on Saturday reported that the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Switzerland “refused to handle the situation” after it was notified of a medical emergency.
The ministry yesterday said that the office received a telephone call from a woman surnamed Liu (劉) on June 20, saying that her husband, surnamed Weng (翁), was in a coma and was to be sent to a hospital in Zurich, Switzerland.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Liu asked the office to help with interpretation and offer suggestions for cheap accommodation near the hospital, the ministry said.
She also said that it would be difficult for her to carry their luggage by herself, it said.
Staff at the office said that they would look for interpreters and accommodation, the ministry said.
They also provided the contact information of the Taiwanese Emergency Assistance Association in Zurich, which the Overseas Community Affairs Council helped establish, it said.
The staff told Liu that the office could communicate with hospitals or social welfare units on her behalf, the ministry said.
However, due to limited personnel and the long distance between Liu’s location, the hospital and the office, it would have been difficult to help her transport the luggage, which is outside the scope of the emergency services provided by the office, it added.
The office called Liu and Weng to follow up on their situation and sent staff to visit them twice in Zurich, the ministry said.
Weng’s condition has improved, it said, adding that Liu and her son expressed their gratitude to overseas Taiwanese and the office for their assistance.
The office did not refuse to handle the issue as reported by CTi News, it said, calling the report “highly regrettable and unacceptable.”
The ministry advised people who plan to travel to Europe to buy adequate travel insurance, as fees for medical services there are high.
In the event of an emergency, Taiwanese can call the emergency numbers of the Representative Office abroad; or the ministry’s emergency hotline at +886-800-085-095.
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
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS