Taiwan News Quick Take – 台北時報 Feedzy

Staff writer, with CNA

DIPLOMACY

Status quo benefits all: MAC

Comments by US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Taiwan during their meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday last week show that maintaining a peaceful “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait is in the interest of all countries, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. Biden and Xi expressed a desire to maintain peace across the Strait during the meeting, MAC spokesman Chan Chih-hung (詹志宏) told a news conference. In addition, a senior US administration official cited Xi as denying reports that China planned to use force against Taiwan in 2027 or 2035. Chan said that the two leaders expressed their respective positions and opinions on the cross-strait situation. In general, the development of cross-strait relations has become an issue of widespread international concern, and maintaining the “status quo” and peace is in the interest of all countries. Addressing Xi’s outlining of conditions in which China believes force could be used, Chan said it is absolutely essential that Taiwan continues to enhance its self-defense capabilities, until Beijing renounces the use of force.

HEALTH

Prosthetic jaw unveiled

The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital on Wednesday shared the results of a collaboration to develop the nation’s first 3D-printed prosthetic jaws for people with oral cancer. About 10,000 people in Taiwan are diagnosed with oral cancers every year, about 60 percent of whom have to undergo reconstructive surgeries, the institutions told a news conference. While the ITRI has been working with 3D-printed medical devices for many years, its partnership with the hospital marked the first time it had applied the technology to prosthetic jaws, said Tsau Fang-hei (曹芳海), director of the ITRI’s southern campus. Prior to the start of clinical tests in 2019, the ITRI simulated more than 500 million occlusion, or “bite,” tests with the prosthetic devices to ensure that they would fit and function properly, Tsau said. Hospital superintendent Lin Yao-hsiang (林曜祥) said that of the nine patients who had received the prosthetic jaws to date, none have said that the device had become loose and more than 50 percent have begun to regain their ability to chew.

HEALTH

Four hospitalized after fire

Four Filipino migrant workers were hospitalized, with two in critical condition, after a fire broke out at a textile company’s dormitory in Changhua County early on Thursday morning, local police said. The four were rushed to Changhua Christian Hospital, while another 29 Filipino migrant workers were evacuated from the building, police said, adding that the blaze was brought under control in half an hour after starting at about 12am. The building houses 59 Filipino workers, 33 of whom were resting at the time of the fire, rescuers said. Of the four hospitalized, a 43-year-old Filipino suffered 90 percent burns over his body, while a 32-year-old sustained 60 percent burns, said Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰), deputy director of hospital’s emergency department. The fire could have been caused by a physical altercation between two Filipino workers in a room on the second floor, police quoted an eye witness as saying. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but some local media reported that one worker attacked another one with a knife and a gas blowtorch, which allegedly started the fire. Police said that a gas blowtorch was found at the scene, but no knife.