Business and Economy

Health Ministry recalls illegal bone plates and screws from 81 hospitals

plates and screws
Business and Economy 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

The Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health has ordered the recall of more than 70,000 bone plates and screws illegally sold to hospitals by a Kaohsiung-based company. The recall affects 81 hospitals and potentially thousands of patients who received the surgical implants between January and July this year. The titanium alloy plates and screws were manufactured and sold by Shicheng Precision Technology Co., Ltd. before the company had received the necessary GMP certification. Deputy head of the

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Taiwan fighting losing battle against fall army worm: South Korea may be next

firefighter burns corn crop affected by fall army worm in Changhua County
Business and Economy 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment ,

Less than two weeks after the first case of fall army worm was detected in Taiwan, the Council of Agriculture (COA) has confirmed a further 150 cases spread widely over the country, and yesterday, June 21, South Korea reported the first confirmed case on Jeju Island. Statistics released by the Quarantine and Inspection Bureau show that there have been more than 5,000 reports since the first case was confirmed June 10, and a total of 151 confirmed cases as of

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Serious crop pest “fall armyworm” detected for the first time in Taiwan

fall armyworm detected in corn crop in Taiwan
Business and Economy 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Agriculture officials confirmed today that caterpillars found on a farm in Miaoli County two days ago have been positively identified as fall armyworms (Spodoptera frugiperda), an invasive species that has devastated crops across north America, Africa, the middle east, and continental Asia in recent years. The suspect larvae were found on a corn crop at the Flying Cow Ranch in Tongxiao Township, June 8, and were sent to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine for analysis.

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Paraglider to be fined NT$300 after landing on Highway

Paraglider comes down on Suhua Highway
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Two paragliders survived unscathed after landing on the Suhua Highway in Hualien County today, and police said that the paragliding operator may be liable to a fine of NT$300 (US$9.74). At around noon today, the paraglider came down and missed the landing area situated just 30 meters from the road in Xincheng Township. Motorists on the 4 lane section of highway were fortunately stopped at a red light at the time. The landing was caught on at least one vehicle’s

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China Airlines pilot caught sleeping at controls of 747

pilot asleep at controls of 747
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Video footage of a senior pilot sleeping in his seat while flying a China Airlines 747 has surfaced in Taiwan, and the aviation company says that the pilot has already been punished for breaching flight safety regulations. EBC News broke the story yesterday and published the 13 second footage of the flight captain snoozing on the job, noting that sleeping in the cockpit is a breach of Taiwan’s aviation regulations. The pilot is said to be a chief officer with

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One dead, one injured after paragliding accident in Hualien County

Travel and Tourism 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A paragliding coach died, and a passenger was injured, after snagging power lines and falling around 20 meters to the ground in Wanrong Township, Hualien County this morning, February 10. Shortly after 8:00am, 57-year-old paragliding operator Wang Tian-ming (王田明) launched a tandem flight with a 25-year-old male Chinese tourist named Tao (陶) in what are described in media reports as windy and foggy conditions. Shortly before 8:30am, the paraglider canopy snagged high-voltage power lines around 30 meters above a betel

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China Airlines pilots strike in the middle of Lunar New Year holiday

China Airlines airbus
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Twenty-six flights to and from Taiwan’s international airports have been cancelled after pilots from the China Airlines branch of Pilots Union Taoyuan began a strike from 6:00am today, February 8. Up to 4,000 passengers may be affected from today, Friday, to Sunday, the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday. Travelers with flights booked with China Airlines can check the status of their flights here. The pilots’ union announced the strike at midnight last night after negotiations broke down

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One dead, nine injured after car plows into Taiwan tour group in Shanghai

Travel and Tourism 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

One man died, and nine people were injured, one critically, after a driver lost control of his car and plowed into a group of Taiwanese tourists on a sidewalk in Shanghai, today, February 3. According to reports in United Daily News and SETN, a group consisting of 31 people on the second day of an eight-day tour of China were walking on Taikang Road at around 9:00am, on their way to a popular tourist site, when a BMW sedan mounted

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Taiwanese flight attendant traumatized after being forced to wipe fat, white, old, foreign butt

passenger of plane
Aviation 
Phillip Charlier 54 Comments

A female Taiwanese flight attendant felt physically and mentally traumatized after being exposed to the sight of an obese man’s genitals, and being forced to wipe the man’s bottom, after he went to the toilet on a flight from Los Angeles to Taipei yesterday, January 19. “I feel dirty.” The flight attendant wrote on an Instagram post that detailed the experience. According to reports in Taiwan media outlets, the flight attendant wrote that an old, white, American man, weighing around

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Hog carcass found on Kinmen beach infected with African Swine Fever, came from China

pig carcass found on Kinmen infected with ASF
Business and Economy 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture (COA) told reporters today that a dead pig found washed up on Jinsha Beach in Kinmen County, December 31, has been confirmed to be infected with the African Swine Fever virus, and originated in China. As a result of the finding, all pork meat, and pork-related products originating on the islands of Kinmen will be banned from entering Taiwan for a period of two weeks, as pigs on the 68 hog farms in Kinmen are tested

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Media Abuzz about possible Arnold Schwarzenegger visit to Kaohsiung City

Business and Economy 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Taiwan’s news media, abuzz with rumors about a famous Hollywood celebrity visit to Kaohsiung since comments made by the mayor-elect on December 18, is reporting that Arnold Schwarzenegger is slated to make a speech in the city in March 2019. Last week, mayor-elect Han Kuo-yu ( 韓國瑜), sparked media interest when he told reporters that an internationally renowned person from Hollywood will speak in Kaohsiung in March. Today, Pan Heng-Hsu (潘恆旭), the incoming Kaohsiung City Government Tourism Bureau director, who

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