Headline News
IMIA expels China and selects Taiwanese as its president
The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA), organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), decided to expel China and select Dr. Jack Li from Taiwan as its president for the next two years.
Li is an authority on artificial intelligence (AI) and heads the College of Medical Science and Technology at Taipei Medical University.
The decision was made at the IMIA conference in Lyon, after IMIA agreed to a motion by its then-president Christoph Lehmann of the United States, to oust China and to choose Li as his successor.
Li said he would have an office at the WHO and be able to speak in favor of Taiwan, which has been excluded from the annual World Health Assembly in Geneva due to Chinese interference.
CEOWorld: Best health care system in Taiwan
Out of 89 countries surveyed, Taiwan has the best health care system in the world, concluded business magazine CEOWorld in its 2019 Health Care Index.
Other Asian nations among the top 10 in 2019: South Korea (2), Japan (3), and Thailand (6).
European countries occupy five of the top ten spots in this year’s ranking: Austria (4), Denmark (5), Spain (7), France (8), and Belgium (9). Australia comes at the10th place.
Taiwan’s healthcare ranks 1st on the list by scoring 78.72 out of 100 points on the Health Care Index, which
Include the health care infrastructure, competencies of staff, costs, availability and government readiness.
The Netherlands ranks 11th with a score of 60.16 points.
Based on data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 414,000 foreigners made medical visits to Taiwan last year.
International human rights office opens in Taiwan
The Asia-Pacific office of the International Human Rights Museums (FIHRM-AP) has been set up in Taiwan with the goal of focusing on regional issues such as poverty, labor exploitation, human trafficking and racial discrimination. It will also serve as an important platform to create links between Taiwan and international human rights organization.
Linked with Taiwan’s National Human Rights Museum where it is based, the FIHRM-AP will also help promote transitional justice, heal historical scars and bring about reconciliation through dialogue
Economy & Society
Google purchases land for new data center in Tainan
Google has announced that it has purchased land in Tainan to set up a second data center in Taiwan.
Google’s first data center in Taiwan opened in 2013 – also one of its first in Asia – and covers 15 hectares in Changhua County with an investment of US$600 million. Earlier this year Google purchases 10 megawatts of solar power for the center to comply with the Electricity Act which oversees the use of renewable energy sources by large companies.
U.S. - China trade war spur Taiwan exports
Taiwan’s exports to the United States grew significantly in the first half of 2019 amid the U.S.-China trade war, according to data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Exports to the U.S. rose 17.4% in the January to June period to US$22.05 billion. Accounting for 82% of that export growth to the U.S. are computers, electronics and optical products. It also represents a growth of 90.1% compared to the first half of last year.
Uncontained creativity
A bus station built from brightly colored shipping containers in southern Taiwan’s Taiwan city is shortlisted in the transportation category at the World Architecture Festival Awards. The event is set to take place Dec. 4 – 6 in Amsterdam.
