TECHNOLOGY
MOFA app to help travelers
A mobile application providing emergency guidance for Taiwanese traveling overseas now includes location-based information about destinations and nearby representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. The app, first launched by MOFA’s Bureau of Consular Affairs in February 2012 and originally named “Travel Emergency Guidance,” has been renamed “Travel Safety Guidance,” MOFA said. The renamed app uses geographical information from a user’s device to offer personalized services and up-to-date travel and safety information, including visa requirements, MOFA said. It can also give guidance to help users find the nearest Taiwanese embassy or representative office and emergency telephone numbers, it said. The app also comes with digital travel emergency translation cards in 14 languages that read: “I am from Taiwan and do not speak your language. I wonder if I could have a Chinese [Mandarin] interpreter,” and “If no one is available, please contact the Taiwan mission in your country. I need their assistance.” The free-to-download app is available for Apple and Android devices at: https://news.boca.gov.tw/download.
HEALTH
Hospital among top 250
Taipei Veterans General Hospital (TVGH) has been ranked 218th among the world’s top 250 hospitals by US magazine Newsweek. National Taiwan University Hospital, which ranked 249th last year, did not make it to the top 250 this year. Newsweek said it partnered with Statista this year for the annual ranking of the world’s best hospitals. The list includes data on 2,400 hospitals across 30 countries, it said. “Each hospital’s score is based on an online survey of more than 85,000 medical experts and public data from post-hospitalization patient surveys on their general satisfaction,” Newsweek said. “The score also considers metrics on things like hygiene and patient/doctor ratio as well as a Statista survey on whether hospitals use Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), which are standardized questionnaires completed by patients to assess their experience and results.” TVGH superintendent Chen Wei-ming (陳威明) yesterday said the public should take the ranking as reference only, adding that he thinks that some medical centers in Taiwan are not worse than other hospitals that made it to the list this year.
MILITARY
Data leak reported
The military had a data leak, a local broadcaster reported, in the latest challenge to the nation’s cybersecurity. Hackers obtained sensitive documents from Chunghwa Telecom Co and key national security units, including data from the military and MOFA, TVBS reported. The broadcaster included a screenshot of an offer by hackers to sell the information in its story on late Wednesday. The screenshot indicated the hackers wanted to offload 1.7TB of internal documents from the nation’s biggest telecom operator, and the data contained contracts the company signed with entities including the government. The report did not mention how much money the hackers wanted or where they were based. Chunghwa Telecom in an exchange filing yesterday said that it has started probing a suspected data leak and reported the case to the government. It added that the incident has had no major impact on its operations, and the telecom would continue strengthening cybersecurity controls. The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Digital Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
RSS