President meets with the wife of late Japanese PM Abe Shinzo

President meets with the wife of late Japanese PM Abe Shinzo

2025-02-21

President Lai Ching-te on Friday morning met with Abe Akie, the widow of late Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Lai extended a special thanks to her late husband for the support and friendship he had for Taiwan while in office, and for his attention to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Lai also said that Mrs. Abe had inherited Abe Shinzo’s philosophy and continued to be a gentle and firm force for regional peace and stability. He also expressed his hope to uphold peace and prosperity within the Indo-Pacific region.

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賴總統會見安倍昭惠感謝繼承理念持續關注台海

2025-02-21

賴清德總統今（21）日上午接見日本前首相安倍晉三遺孀安倍昭惠，賴總統特別感謝安倍前首相，在任時對台灣的支持，以及對台海和平穩定的關注。

他也指出昭惠夫人繼承安倍晉三的理念，持續為區域和平與繁榮帶來溫柔和堅定的力量，台日兩國未來將持續攜手合作，為全球和平與繁榮做出貢獻。

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2025-02-21

Top-tiered hospitals to see less outpatients

This year the National Health Insurance system adopted new measures for various hospitals, including a requirement that outpatient services in medical centers, which are Taiwan’s top-tiered hospitals, to be beneath 55% of total services offered. There are worries in the public this will cause sick people to be unable to see a doctor when they need to. In response, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan says the role of medical centers is focusing on emergency care and acute illnesses. The government will implement a grading system for hospitals, so patients can go to lower-ranked hospitals for minor complaints. Outpatient services in medical centers will also have supporting measures in place so no one who is ill will be out of the loop.

President Lai Ching-te attends a seminar discussing the sustainability of the National Health Insurance system ahead of its 30th anniversary in March. He stresses the importance of universal health insurance coverage to protect the health of the nation’s people.

This year new systems were introduced in various hospitals, requiring the proportion of outpatient services in medical centers to be less than 55%. This has caused the public to worry that sick people won’t be able to get doctor’s appointments like they used to.

Chiu Tai-yuan
Minister of Health and Welfare
The role of a medical center, in theory, should be focusing on emergencies, acute illnesses and hospitalization. Controlling the outpatient volume of a medical center is also a direction we’ll take, but we will also propose appropriate supporting measures.

Shih Chung-liang
National Health Insurance Administration
The total amounts for individual hospitals are calculated on a quarterly basis, not a yearly basis. In the southern regions, in Kaohsiung and Pingtung, and even in the northern regions, these measures have been implemented one after the other, and no such incidents have occurred.

Currently, among the 22 medical centers in Taiwan, 9 have outpatient service ratios that exceed the standard. Many people still go to large hospitals for treatment of minor illnesses.

Hung Tzu-jen
Shin Kong Wu Ho Su Memorial Hospital
The calculations for the total amount in individual hospitals include outpatient surgeries. These should be excluded. Currently outpatient surgeries are recorded as being in the outpatient services volume. However, this is unreasonable because if outpatient services volumes increase, your outpatient proportion in total number of cases will very quickly exceed 55%.

As the new system is being implemented, the medical community hopes that the Ministry of Health and Welfare will make rolling adjustments. When it implements a tiered system for hospitals, the government has always seen it as imperative to focus the capacity of medical centers on emergency and critical care.

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2025-02-21

Saipan birth tourism for Chinese mothers

So-called birth tourism is not only happening on the US mainland. Pregnant Chinese mothers have been heading to a US territory much closer to home to have their babies and obtain for them - coveted U.S. citizenship. VOA Mandarin’s Yu Yao and Jiu Dao have the details from Saipan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands. Elizabeth Lee narrates.

Tourists may come to Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, for its Pacific Island beauty, but not this mother. She’s here so her daughter can acquire a piece of paper that says she’s a US citizen.

The mother has overstayed the 14 days she’s allowed to be in this US territory. She only uses her surname, Ye, to protect her identity.

Ye
Chinese Citizen
Whether it’s the education system or the everyday environment within China, there’s too much pressure. Even I want to escape. I don’t want to be there.

Ye arrived in Saipan in September, entering under a 14-day visa waiver program for Chinese citizens implemented in 2019. Before that, when birth tourism from China was at its highest, Chinese nationals were allowed to stay without a visa for 45 days.

Arnold Palacios is the governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Arnold Palacios
Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands
It peaked in 2017 and 2018.

With more than 500 babies born to Chinese mothers in each of those years, Palacios says those births surpassed the number born to Saipan women. The number of Chinese births on the island dropped during the pandemic.

Since 2009, government records show, about 3,300 babies have been born here to Chinese mothers. Ye says she found Saipan on social media while researching places to give birth.

Conservatives in the US have argued that birthright citizenship encourages illegal immigration and is being exploited.

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end it.

Donald Trump
US President
We’re the only country in the world that does this with birthright, as you know, and it’s just absolutely ridiculous.

While this order is being challenged in court, Ye hopes there will be a good outcome for her daughter and maybe even herself.

Ye
Chinese Citizen
I felt once I got here, it’s more humane place. For sure there will be a way to solve the challenges I am facing.

Since the end of last year, travelers from China have to apply online for a waiver and be vetted through an electronic pre-screening process before they are allowed to enter.

For Yu Yao and Jiu Dao in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Elizabeth Lee, VOA News.

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2025-02-21

Cat cafe in historic Tainan building draws crowds

More animal cafes are looking to capture a slice of the market by offering more therapeutic features. Now even an old Japanese-era dorm on Tainan’s Chikan East Street also houses one. Although tucked away in a small corner of West Central District, the promise of sitting in the company of its feline stars is drawing lots of visitors.

Hidden down a narrow alley, this Japanese-era building boasts plenty of classic charm. Stepping stones shaped like cat paws betray the surprise waiting inside. Twelve cats call this cafe home. They line the glass-enclosed walkway, and sometimes poke their heads inside private rooms to the delight of customers.

Visitor
It’s soothing. I don’t need to have my own cat. I can just play with other people’s, like playing with other people’s kids.

These kids are having even more fun playing with the cats. They don’t have one at home, so they come here to play.

Visitor
This way is gentler. They won’t get afraid. We can’t get close to cats very often. This is my first time playing with one.

Other visitors came for the classic Japanese building.

Visitor
I mostly came for the architecture. It’s beautiful and they renovated it well.

This old building is on Chikan East Street in Tainan’s West Central District. After World War II, it was used as a police dorm. In 2016 it was registered as a historic building with the Tainan City Government. The traditional wooden structure maintains most of its original appearance. Its nostalgic and comforting atmosphere attracted a famous cat cafe from Kaohsiung, which chose it for a new location.

Chang Hui-ying
Manager
We’d already chosen all the cats. First, they had to be relatively calm and friendly toward people. Of course, we let them get used to everything before we opened. First was getting them used to the space, then it was getting them used to people coming and going.

To protect the building while keeping the cats happy, they put a protective layer on the walls and carpet that they could scratch. The hallway also has cat towers, scratching posts, and all kinds of toys.

Chang Hui-ying
Manager
Space that’s too crowded makes them uneasy, so over here we made a hallway specifically to give the cats more space.

The cafe also separates the cats according to disposition and age. It’s a first for Tainan, combining a historic building with a cat cafe in a reflection of the city’s pet-friendly policies.

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2025-02-21

Not in my backyard: Banqiao residents oppose plans to expand funeral parlor

As Taiwan’s population ages, there are more deaths than ever. And as a result, there have been controversial discussions on whether to expand the New Taipei City Funeral Parlor in Banqiao or move it to a new site. Banqiao residents have not been happy with either option. On Friday morning, residents in the funeral parlor’s neighborhood protested the latest city government plans to expand the institution at its current site in front of the city council. They also delivered a petition with some 10,000 signatures.

Residents of New Taipei’s Banqiao District are protesting plans to renovate and expand the New Taipei City Funeral Parlor in their neighborhood.

Protester
Why are you pushing to expand the Banqiao funeral parlor? Six stories above and five stories below. Such vileness. What do you take us Banqiao residents for? You’re stepping on us people of Banqiao. You’re stepping on us right below your foot. You’re really, really disgusting.

New Taipei City Councilor Chou Sheng-kao, the leader of the protest, presented a petition with some 10,000 signatures.

Chou Sheng-kao
New Taipei City councilor (KMT)
We hope the city council can convene a working project group and that the city government will consider our appeal in today’s petition.

The project proposal came amid a rising number of deaths in recent years. Whether to move the site or optimize existing facilities has been a contentious issue. The city government hopes to re-build the site, and local residents are clearly not happy with this.

Chou Sheng-kao
New Taipei City councilor (KMT)
It’s inappropriate to have the funeral parlor here. What nobody else wants, we also don’t want. Will the city government and the city council please have some mercy on the people of Banqiao.

Local residents prefer that the city government phase out the current funeral parlor, while the city’s Department of Civil Affairs say they’ll continue to communicate with local borough wardens in the area.

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Firefighter calendar stud doubles as martial artist

Firefighter Chou Po-sheng showed off his muscles in the highly anticipated New Taipei City Fire Department calendar. He got his stellar physique not only by training to save lives, but also by practicing martial arts since his school days. Inspired by his senior classmate, he became a firefighter to protect the community. His martial arts training gave him the strength and endurance to be a stellar first responder.

Performing martial arts forms with shift motions, Chou Po-sheng’s muscles ripple as he nails the next punch.

But this handsome stud is more than meets the eye. When he isn’t practicing his forms, he’s saving lives as a firefighter, or posing for the department’s next calendar.

Now 36 years old, Chou has been studying martial arts since he was a boy. It was because of his friendships made through martial arts that he decided to become a firefighter.

Chou Po-sheng
Firefighter
Many of my senior classmates are now firefighters in different parts of Taiwan. Inspired by stories they told me about saving lives. I could feel their passion toward disaster rescue and found myself drawn to this line of work.

Encouraged by his seniors, Chou took the firefighters’ exam at 28 and joined the Shutan fire station at 33. Bravely fighting back flames, he has saved many lives since.

Chou Po-sheng
Firefighter
There was a fire at a paint factory, and if I didn’t get closer, the water from the hose wouldn’t get inside. But when I got closer, I could feel the heat of the fire burning my entire face. So, I held the hose closer, but kept my head down. Whenever I looked up for a second, I would feel my face burning.

Chou even coached martial arts before becoming a firefighter. Our reporter got a rare chance to learn from him.

Chou’s impressive physique is featured in the New Taipei City Fire Department 2025 calendar and in short videos made to promote the fire brigade.

Whether it’s a dance challenge, workout routine, or fire that needs putting out, this firefighter executes the job with skill and charisma.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

2025-02-21