Asia | Taiwan | Crimes

Cops raid ‘killer exorcism cult’ hideout led by ‘female Buddha’ in mountains

Cops have raided dangerous "exorcism" cult led by a "female Buddha" in a secret mountain hideout in Taiwan. Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said 19 followers were rescued from the cult’s headquarters based in a monastery, in the island’s central landlocked county of Nantou in August. Reports say followers of "Zhonghua Rixing Yishang" – or "China Daily Virtue", were prohibited from leaving or speaking without permission and one was reportedly killed in a sick ritual. The death of Taiwanese national Ms Fang, 20, in mainland China sparked police investigations acro

Asia | Taiwan | Leadership

Taiwan’s Nationalists elect their 1st female leader

Source: The Washington Post

Taiwan’s China-friendly Nationalist Party has elected its first female leader after ousting her as its presidential candidate ahead of January elections that were won by pro-independence rivals. The Kuomintang had ditched Hung Hsiu-chu as her abrasive style and strongly pro-China positions were seen as alienating voters. The veteran legislator and former teacher was elected as leader over three other candidates Saturday and likely faces a difficult time rebuilding the party after its January electoral defeat. Hung takes over from Eric Chu, who was the party’s eventual presidential ca

Asia | Taiwan | Leadership

Taiwan Elects Its First Female President

Source: Time

Tsai Ing-wen is now the most powerful woman in the Chinese-speaking world. The people of Taiwan elected their first female President on Saturday — a bookish technocrat who has vowed to put domestic concerns above deepened ties with China, which are increasingly seen here as a poisoned chalice. Tsai Ing-wen, a U.S.- and U.K.-trained scientist, and leader of the Beijing-skeptic Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), took some 56% of the vote to end eight years of Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) rule blighted by anemic growth and soaring inequality.

Asia | Taiwan | Politics

Taiwan’s Next Presidential Vote Just Made History

Source: Newser

Taiwan's top two political parties have each nominated a woman for president in 2016, a historic first signaling acceptance of female leadership and kicking off a campaign highlighted so far by clashing views on ties with China. The ruling Nationalist Party today picked as its candidate Hung Hsiu-chu, a former teacher and the current deputy legislative speaker, who supports friendly relations with China. She'll run against Tsai Ing-wen, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman and an advocate of more cautious relations with Beijing. Tsai leads in opinion polls ahead of Janu

Asia | Taiwan | Politics

All-female face-off likely in Taiwan elections

Source: Channel NewsAsia

Taiwan could be set to elect its first female leader next January after the island's Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu looked poised to represent the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) for the 2016 presidential race. She will run against the chairwoman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, Tsai Ing-wen, once her nomination is approved by the party congress next month. The outspoken Hung, whose fiery temperament at the legislature has won her the nickname “Little Hot Pepper”, does not seem to fit the stereotype of her KMT predecessors. But some analysts say the 67-year-old fo

Asia | Taiwan | Health

Brain Brownout: Concussion Recovery May Be Slower for Women

Source: NBC News

Women may have a harder time recovering from concussion, a new study suggests. Taiwanese researchers found women were more likely than men to continue to have memory deficits nearly three months after a mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI, according to the study published in the journal Radiology. The findings provide "evidence that women may have greater risk for developing working memory impairment after mTBI and may have longer recovery time," said study coauthor Dr. Chi-Jen Chen, a professor at Taipei Medical University Shuang-Ho Hospital. Chen had noticed that almost twice as many wom