Taipei Mayor Cancels Trip To Australia

From: Taiwan Headlines, Taiwan - Jan 15, 2005

Taipei, Jan. 15 (CNA) Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou has canceled a planned visit to Australia for the closing ceremony of the 2005 Deaf Olympics in Melbourne, a city government official said Saturday. Vice Mayor Pai Hsiu-hsiung was assigned to make the trip in his place, according to Taipei city government spokesman Yu Tzu-hsiang. Ma had previously canceled a planned visit to Thailand in order to oversee damage control over a catalogue of errors by a municipal hospital earlier in the week that delayed the emergency treatment of aseverely abused four-year-old girl. The Taipei City Hospital's Jen Ai branch refused to perform surgery on the girl, who had suffered serious brain injuries after being beaten up by her drunken father, and tried to transfer her to another hospital as it had no beds available. Another 23 Taipei hospitals offered the same excuse and the girl finally had to be taken almost 200 km to a hospital in Taichung County, where she remains in a coma. Ma canceled the Australian trip following the city government's decision to renew an investigation into the responsibility of medical workers at the Jen Ai hospital. Several hospital officials have been punished for their parts in the incident, while Chang Hang, head of the city's Department of Health, has also been removed from his post. (By Y.F. Low) ENDITEM/J

Copyright ©2005 Government Information Office.