Asia Taiwan National Health Insurance budget has been raised over $31,8 billion for the first time; with expanded budget medical workers will be paid on workload or case difficulty, hospitals will have resources to raise salaries, invest in equipment and training
Asia Taiwan To expand geothermal energy and new projects in Taitung County three measures have been introduced: clearer regulations, financial incentives, and a greater role for state-owned companies in leading development
Asia Taiwan Routine drug price surveys could be suspended for three years in an effort to strengthen the stability of Taiwan’s pharmaceutical supply; annual surveys consider demand and clinical necessity and set prices, ultimately influencing production
Asia Taiwan Guides to help small businesses and non-profits curb cyber threats were released by National Institute of Cyber Security; according to the agency, cyberattacks are more frequent and sophisticated, leaving smaller organizations more exposed
Asia Taiwan Lawmaker Lee Chen-hsiu was sworn in despite not having begun the process to renounce her Chinese nationality; the formality is required by Nationality Act, which bars individuals holding dual nationality from serving as elected representatives
Asia Taiwan Many school-aged children in Taiwan take jobs to assist their families, about 20% underpaid or working in unsafe conditions, World Vision Taiwan WVT reported; in underprivileged families 26% of children work while in school, 80% of them for economic help
Asia Taiwan Thunder Tiger, a major Taiwan’s manufacturer of radio-controlled aircraft and drones, has expanded into unmanned surface vessels and is seeking both domestic and overseas defense contracts
Asia Taiwan The Museumbrary opened in Taichung, a 5.000-square-meter library-museum hybrid funded by a US$15 million municipal grant and private donations; targeting a 15% drop in youth readership, it expects 500.000 visitors in the first year with free admission
Asia Taiwan Taiwan and India pledged to build a resilient supply chain by combining Taiwan’s advanced technologies with India’s software talent and manufacturing incentives; the official talks aimed at efforts to diversify beyond vulnerable networks
Asia Taiwan Food waste trucks will be fitted with GPS starting on 7 December to prevent the spread of African swine fever: the outbreak of the virus in Taichung last month has suggested that the feeding of hogs with kitchen waste might have been a cause
Asia Taiwan Defense will be integrated by drones into joint-operations, tactical, and combat roles; unmanned systems will conduct long-endurance, long-range reconnaissance, surveillance, and strike missions across Taiwan's maritime and air domains
Asia Taiwan Kinmen County Government with conservation group Aquatic Renewal Workshop released the endemic large-scale lesser-bream into Kinmen’s Qingtian Reservoir; extinct on Taiwan’s main island since 1920s, Kinmen may now serve as the species’ last natural refuge
Asia Taiwan Super typhoon Ragasa has hit Taiwan, leaving at least 14 dead and 124 missing as torrential rains, 200 km/h winds in eastern Hualien broke a water barrier, flooding the town of Guangfu; over 700 flights were canceled, alerts issued in China and Hong Kong