Ep 251 | Dr Jung Tsai: On his Courageous Medical Mission to Ukraine for Taiwan

Aug 28, 2023

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Dr. Jung Tsai is a retired surgeon. He had been in practice for nearly 50 years. He specialized in Cancer and Vascular Surgery. He is the founding President of The Greater New York Region Pen club in 2003 and was the National President of North American Taiwanese Medical association.

He was the commissioner and current consultant of OCAC 僑委會

I met Dr. Jung Tsai nearly 15 years ago and in July I happened to run into him when I was at the New York Taiwan Center for an event. That’s when I learned that he was organizing a medical mission to Ukraine and asked if he’d talk with me about it for Talking Taiwan. Dr. Tsai is a retired surgeon, who’s been in practice for nearly 50 years. His specialty is Cancer and Vascular Surgery. He is the founding President of The Greater New York Region Pen club in 2003 and was the National President of North American Taiwanese Medical Association. He was also the commissioner and is currently a consultant of OCAC (僑委會).

Dr. Tsai has 15 years of experience going on medical missions with the North America Taiwanese Medical Association, but nothing could have prepared him for this undertaking which has been full of ups and downs. Despite it all, Dr. Tsai has single-handedly made it happen.

He and his team will be heading to Warsaw on August 29th and spending 10 days in Rivne, Ukraine. We be holding you and your team in our thoughts during this live saving, live changing mission and looking forward to your safe return.

Dr. Tsai’s courage is a reminder to focus on what really matters in life and not to give up even when things seem insurmountable.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

· Why Dr. Tsai decided to organize a medical mission to Ukraine

· Dr. Tsai’s observation that people in Taiwan do not want to go to war with China

· How Dr. Tsai went about organizing the medical mission to Ukraine

· How Dr. Tsai had planned to bring a group of 25 but then people suddenly started dropping out

· The concerns of people who dropped out of the medical mission and those who have committed

· How the Minister of Health in Ukraine wrote a letter in support of Dr. Tsai’s medical mission to help get visas needed for the people coming from Taiwan

· The challenges Dr. Tsai has faced in single-handedly organizing this mission

· The group of 15 people who will be going on the medical mission to Ukraine; 13 medical professionals and 2 reporters from Formosa Television

· The efforts of some people in Taiwan to help Ukraine

· How the U.S. State department advised Dr. Tsai against going to Ukraine

· The group will be in Rivne, Ukraine for 10 days from September 1-10

· Afterward 5 of the group will go to Lithuania for a meeting

· How the Baltic Way in 1989 inspired the 2004 Hand-in-Hand Rally in Taiwan

· The first person to commit to joining Dr. Tsai’s medical mission to Ukraine

· The logistics of procuring medical supplies, hiring a translator

· How Dr. Tsai was interviewed by a New York Times reporter about the medical mission to Ukraine

· How plans for the medical mission to Ukraine are constantly changing

· Dr. Tsai’s thoughts on people’s fatigue about the war in Ukraine and people’s concerns over the U.S.’s support of Ukraine

· How Dr. Tsai has saved the life of a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party

· How a young Ukrainian activist whose father has been captured by Russia contacted Dr. Tsai to thank him and ask to meet with him

· How Dr. Tsai and his team will announce their medical mission to Ukraine at Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan on August 28