Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Buckle Infection Complicated by Endophthalmitis and Presumed Choroidal Abscess in a Patient with Ulcerative Colitis

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Buckle Infection Complicated by Endophthalmitis and Presumed Choroidal Abscess in a Patient with Ulcerative Colitis Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology xxx (2015) 1e3 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology journal homepage: www.e-tjo.com Case Report Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus buckle infection complicated by endophthalmitis and presumed choroidal abscess in a patient with ulcerative colitis * Kuan-I. Wu a, Kwan-Rong Liu a, b, c, Hsiang-Wen Chien b, a Department of Ophthalmology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan b Department of Ophthalmology, Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan c Department of Ophthalmology, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan article info abstract Article history: This patient presented with excessive pain, lid swelling, erythema, heat and limitations of extraocular Received 25 October 2014 movement (OD) nine days after a scleral buckle (SB) and pneumopexy surgery. Complicated buckle Received in revised form infection with endophthalmitis was impressed. Bacterial culture yielded methicillin-resistant Staphylo- 10 May 2015 coccus aureus. A choroidal abscess was identified 1 week after the episode. Complete visual recovery from Accepted 15 July 2015 hand motion to 20/30 (OD) was achieved with buckle removal, subconjunctival and intravitreal antibi- Available online xxx otics. Endophthalmitis and choroidal abscess formation after SB surgery is extremely rare. Host factors including ulcerative colitis may play a role in causing the severe buckle infection of this patient. Keywords: © choroidal abscess Copyright 2015, The Ophthalmologic Society of Taiwan. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. All rights endophthalmitis reserved. methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, scleral buckle ulcerative colitis 1. Introduction 2. Case Presentation Scleral buckle (SB) surgery is a conventional repair procedure for A 46-year-old male with baseline visual acuity of 20/30 in both rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. The reported incidence of eyes (OU), had history of high myopia (spherical equivalent À12.0 buckle infection ranges 0.2e5.6%.1 Infective endophthalmitis after diopters; OU), retinal break postfocal laser treatment (OU), and scleral buckling surgery is even lower (0.02e0.19%).2,3 Management open angle glaucoma (OU) under regular follow up at our clinic. He typically requires prompt SB removal, which carries the risk of moreover had ulcerative colitis (UC), which was well controlled recurrent retinal detachment. Thus, the visual outcome of buckle with mesalamine. He presented to our clinic and had experienced infection may be poor because of retinal damage or recurrent floaters in the right eye (OD) for 1 week and an inferior visual field detachment. In this paper, we present the clinical course of a pa- defect for 3 days. An examination revealed superior rhegmatoge- tient with complicated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nous retinal detachment from the 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock direction (MRSA) buckle infection and discuss the possible host factors without macular involvement. Lattice with atrophic holes from the associated with the disease. 12 o'clock to 1 o'clock positions was identified. He underwent segmental SB surgery with scleral diathermy for retinal break localization and an intravitreal injection of perfluoropropane (C3F8). A Mira silicon sponge-507 was fixated at the superonasal sclera. Postoperative examination showed a well-attached retina, and the patient was discharge under stable condition. fl fl Con icts of interest: None of the authors has any con icts of interest to report Nine days postoperation, the patient presented to our clinic with with regard to this article. No financial support was received for this work. * Corresponding author. Department of Ophthalmology, Cathay General Hospital, excessive pain, chills, and headache. Erythema, lid swelling, heat, 280 Renai Road, Section 4, Taipei, 106, Taiwan. and limitation of extraocular movement were present. Visual acuity E-mail address: [email protected] (H.-W. Chien). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tjo.2015.07.002 2211-5056/Copyright © 2015, The Ophthalmologic Society of Taiwan. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC. All rights reserved. Please cite this article in press as: Wu K-I, et al., Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus buckle infection complicated by endophthalmitis and presumed choroidal abscess in a patient with ulcerative colitis, Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.tjo.2015.07.002 2 K.-I. Wu et al. / Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology xxx (2015) 1e3 was limited to seeing hand motion only at 10 cm. The active cellular reaction was 4þ in the anterior chamber. A dilated fundus exami- nation showed inferior vitreous opacities with an attached retina and an intraocular gas bubble of ~30%. The orbital computed to- mography scan revealed a significant thickening of the right eyelid and the right superior rectus and levator palpebrae superioris muscles (Figure 1). Buckle infection complicated with orbital cellulitis and endophthalmitis was impressed. Empirical intrave- nous antibiotics of cefazolin and gentamicin were administered. The patient was started on hourly topical ciprofloxacin. Emergent buckle removal surgery was arranged. During the operation, a peritomy was performed 120 superonasally. Purulent discharge was spontaneously drained from the superonasal quad- rant. After removing the sponge implant and the underlying pus, the sclera beneath the buckle appeared soft and necrotic. Intra- vitreal vancomycin (1 mg/0.1 mL) and ceftriaxone (2 mg/0.1 mg) were injected, followed by subconjunctival injections of vanco- mycin (25 mg/0.5 mL) and ceftriaxone (100 mg/0.5 mL). The buckle and swab culture both yielded MRSA that was resistant to all an- tibiotics except vancomycin and teicloplanin. Hence, systemic an- tibiotics were shifted to teicloplanin and topical antibiotics were shifted to vancomycin. The anterior chamber reaction subsequently subsided. However, the fundus view remained impaired because of vitreous opacities. An elevated subretinal lesion located at the former buckle area over the superonasal region was identified 1 week postbuckle removal. An ultrasound B-scan (Figure 2A) revealed a dome-shaped elevation in the area. A choroidal abscess was also impressed. Intravitreal and subconjunctival injections of vancomycin were repeated every 2 days for a total of eight times to control the infection. The patient responded well to vancomycin treatment. The vit- reous opacities subsided and the choroidal abscess gradually flat- tened over an 8-week period, as shown by fundus examination and ultrasound B-scan in Figure 2B. Subsequent bacterial cultures of the eye discharge remained negative. Visual acuity of the patient improved dramatically to the baseline value of 20/30 at the 2- month follow up. The retina remained attached thereafter without any focal laser treatment. The patient underwent cataract surgery 48 months later, and visual acuity improved to 20/25. Follow-up optical coherence tomography (OCT) postcataract surgery showed a thin epiretinal membrane formation over the macular area of the right eye (Figure 2C). Figure 2. (A) Ultrasound B-scan of the right eye shows a dome-shaped choroidal elevation at the previous location of the removed buckle. Vitreous opacities are pre- sent. (B) At the 8-week follow up, the choroidal lesion (asterisk) has gradually flattened and the vitreous opacities are markedly decreased, which is consistent with resolution of the inflammatory process. (C) Optical coherence tomography reveals a thin epi- retinal membrane over the right eye. 3. Discussion Our patient had MRSA infection that was associated buckle infection with endophthalmitis and presumed choroidal abscess. Scleral necrosis also occurred underneath the silicon sponge. Figure 1. Orbital computed tomography without contrast of the right eye shows Staphylococcus species are one of the most common organisms swelling of the periorbital tissue and fat stranding next to the buckle (arrow). An fi 4,5 intraocular gas bubble from pneumatic retinopexy of right eye is also evident on the identi ed from an explanted SB and necrotic sclera. Methicillin- computed tomography image. resistant Staphylococcus aureus ophthalmic infections are Please cite this article in press as: Wu K-I, et al., Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus buckle infection complicated by endophthalmitis and presumed choroidal abscess in a patient with ulcerative colitis, Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.tjo.2015.07.002 K.-I. Wu et al. / Taiwan Journal of Ophthalmology xxx (2015) 1e3 3 increasing. In a review by Blomquist,6 orbital cellulitis with Apart from aforementioned factors, pathological changes in endophthalmitis accounted for 4% of all MRSA ophthalmic in- highly myopic eyes include thinning of the sclera. Our patient had fections. Apart from Staphylococcus aureus, other causative organ- open angle glaucoma (OU) for years. This may provide indirect isms in buckle infection include Staphylococcus epidermidis, Proteus evidence that our patient had weakened biomechanical properties mirabilis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.7 of the sclera. This predisposed our patient to increased suscepti- The possible route of bacterial entry in our patient may have bility of deeper bacterial invasion through the sclera, which resul- been via contamination of the buckle implant or suture material. ted in the formation of the choroidal abscess and 14 Ocular penetration during intravitreal injection of C3F8 may also endophthalmitis. In addition, the application of
Recommended publications
  • A Study of Literacy Development
    Early Literacy Development in Mandarin-Speaking Children: The Role of Phonological Awareness, Rapid Naming and Spoken Language Skills Li-Li Yeh Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the regulation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Human Communication Sciences University of Sheffield April, 2012 Abstract In Taiwan, many children grow up in a bilingual environment, namely Mandarin and Taiwanese. They learn Zhuyin Fuhao – a semi-syllabic transparent orthography – at the beginning of the first grade before learning traditional Chinese characters. However little is known about the acquisition of literacy in this complex context, especially about the role of phonological awareness (PA), rapid automatized naming (RAN) and other spoken language skills. This longitudinal study is the first systematic attempt to investigate the trajectory of literacy acquisition in Mandarin-speaking children and the impact of instruction in both Zhuyin Fuhao and character. The study was carried out in Taipei. A sample of 92 children were tested in their first grade (mean age of 6;7), and then followed up a year later in their second grade. A comprehensive PA battery was designed to measure implicit and explicit PA of syllables, onset-rime, phonemes and tones. RAN, spoken language skills and literacy skills, including reading accuracy and comprehension in Zhuyin Fuhao and character were also measured, alongside non-verbal intelligence and children’s home languages. It was found that the role of PA in early literacy development of Mandarin-speaking children in Taiwan varies as a function of the orthography system. PA was closely linked to ZF-related tasks and reading comprehension, but not character reading where it had no predictive role.
    [Show full text]
  • Application of Artificial Intelligence in the Establishment of an Association
    Hindawi Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2021, Article ID 5530717, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/5530717 Research Article Application of Artificial Intelligence in the Establishment of an Association Model between Metabolic Syndrome, TCM Constitution, and the Guidance of Medicated Diet Care Pei- Li Chien,1 Chi-Feng Liu,2 Hui-Ting Huang,3 Hei-Jen Jou,4 Shih-Ming Chen,4 Tzuu-Guang Young,5 Yi-Feng Wang,6 and Pei-Hung Liao 2 1Public Affairs Office, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, No. 424, Sec. 2, Bade Road., Songshan District, Taipei City 10556, Taiwan 2School of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, No. 365, Ming-te Road, Peitou District, Taipei City 112, Taiwan 3Department of Gastroenterology, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, No. 424, Sec. 2, Bade Road., Songshan District, Taipei City 10556, Taiwan 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, No. 424, Sec. 2, Bade Road., Songshan District, Taipei City 10556, Taiwan 5Department of Infectious Disease, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, No. 424, Sec. 2, Bade Road., Songshan District, Taipei City 10556, Taiwan 6Health Clinic, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, No. 424, Sec. 2, Bade Road., Songshan District, Taipei City 10556, Taiwan Correspondence should be addressed to Pei-Hung Liao; [email protected] Received 26 January 2021; Accepted 23 April 2021; Published 3 May 2021 Academic Editor: shuibin lin Copyright © 2021 Pei- Li Chien et al. (is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. (is study conducted exploratory research using artificial intelligence methods.
    [Show full text]
  • Research Article Sleep Quality Among Female Hospital Staff Nurses
    Hindawi Publishing Corporation Sleep Disorders Volume 2013, Article ID 283490, 6 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/283490 Research Article Sleep Quality among Female Hospital Staff Nurses Pei-Li Chien,1 Hui-Fang Su,2 Pi-Ching Hsieh,2 Ruo-Yan Siao,1 Pei-Ying Ling,3 and Hei-Jen Jou3,4 1 Department of Preventive Medicine, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, No. 424, Section 2, Bade Road, Songshan District, Taipei 105, Taiwan 2 Department of Health Care Management, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, No. 89, Nei-Chiang Street, Wanhua District, Taipei 10845, Taiwan 3 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, No. 424, Section 2, Bade Road, Songshan District, Taipei 105, Taiwan 4 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Zhongshan S. Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei 100, Taiwan Correspondence should be addressed to Hei-Jen Jou; [email protected] Received 13 January 2013; Accepted 22 April 2013 Academic Editor: Michel M. Billiard Copyright © 2013 Pei-Li Chien et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Purpose. To investigate sleep quality of hospital staff nurses, both by subjective questionnaire and objective measures. Methods. Female staff nurses at a regional teaching hospital in Northern Taiwan were recruited. The Chinese version of the pittsburgh sleep quality index (C-PSQI) was used to assess subjective sleep quality, and an electrocardiogram-based cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC) technique was used to analyze objective sleep stability.
    [Show full text]
  • The Future Association of Taiwan with the People's Republic of China
    22 INSTITUTE OF EAST ASIAN STUDIES ·~ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA • BERKELEY ccs CENTER FOR CHINESE STUDIES The Future Association of Taiwan with the People's Republic of China Dan C. Sanford IN ST ITUTE OF EAST AS IAN STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY The Inst itute of East Asian Studies was established at the University of Cali­ fornia, Berkeley, in the fall of 1978 to promote research and teaching o n the c ultures a nd societies of C hina, Japan, a nd Ko rea. It amalgamates the following research and instructional cente rs a nd programs: Cente r f or Chinese Studies, Center fo r Japanese Studies, Cente r for Korean Studies, Group in Asian Studies, a nd the NDEA Title VI language and a rea center administered jointly wi th Stanford Un ive rs it y. INSTITUTE OF EAST ASIAN STUDIES Director: Robert A. Scalapino Assistant Director: K. Anthony Namkung Executive Committee: James Bosson Lowell Dittmer Herbert P. Phillips John C. Jamieson Sha Sato Irwin Scheiner CENTER FOR CHINESE STUDIES Chairman: Lowell Dittmer CENTER FOR JAPANESE STUDIES Chairman: Irwin Scheiner CENTER FOR KOREAN STUDIES Chairman: John C. Jamieson GROUP IN ASIAN STUDIES Chairman: Herbert P. Phi llips NDEA LANGUAGE AND AREA CENTER Co-Director: James Bosson Cover design by Wolfgang Lederer Art work by Sei-Kwan Sohn Cover colophon by Shih-hsiang Chen The Future Association of Taiwan with the People's Republic of China CHINA RESEARCH MONOGRAPH 22 CNSTITUTE OF EAST ASIAN STUDIES ~ UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA • BERKELEY ccs CENTER FOR CHINESE STUDIES The Future Association of Taiwan with the People's Republic of China Dan C.
    [Show full text]
  • Transitional Justice in Taiwan: a Belated Reckoning with the White Terror
    Transitional Justice in Taiwan: A Belated Reckoning with the White Terror Thomas J. Shattuck All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Author: Thomas J. Shattuck Designed by: Natalia Kopytnik © 2019 by the Foreign Policy Research Institute November 2019 Cover Design by Natalia Kopytnik. Photo Sources: Top left to right to bottom Lordcolus/Wikimedia Commons, Wei-Te Wong/Flickr,yeowatzup/Flickr, Prince Roy/Flikcr, Fcuk1203/Wikimedia Commons, Outlookxp/Wikimedia Commons, Joe Lo/Wikimedia Commons, Bernard Gagnon/Wikimedia Commons, A16898/Wikimedia Commons, Chi Hung Lin/panoramio.com, Wei-Te Wong/Flickr, CEphoto/Uwe Aranas, Joe Lo/Flickr, Solomon203/Wikimedia Commons, Shoestring/Wikitravel, Thomas J. Shattuck, Vmenkov/Wikimedia Commons, Outlookxp/Wikimedia Commons, lienyuan lee/panoramio.com. Our Mission The Foreign Policy Research Institute is dedicated to bringing the insights of scholarship to bear on the foreign policy and national security challenges facing the United States. It seeks to educate the public, teach teachers, train students, and offer ideas to advance U.S. national interests based on a nonpartisan, geopolitical perspective that illuminates contemporary international affairs through the lens of history, geography, and culture. Offering Ideas In an increasingly polarized world, we pride ourselves on our tradition of nonpartisan scholarship. We count among our ranks over 100 affiliated scholars located throughout the nation and the world who appear regularly in national and international media, testify on Capitol Hill, and are consulted by U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Cross-Strait Relations and Trade Diplomacy in East Asia Towards Greater EU–Taiwan Economic Cooperation?
    Cross-Strait Relations and Trade Diplomacy in East Asia Towards Greater EU–Taiwan Economic Cooperation? Maaike Okano-Heijmans Sander Wit Frans-Paul van der Putten Clingendael report Cross-Strait Relations and Trade Diplomacy in East Asia Towards Greater EU–Taiwan Economic Cooperation? Maaike Okano-Heijmans Sander Wit Frans-Paul van der Putten Clingendael report March 2015 March 2015 © Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holders. About the authors Maaike Okano-Heijmans is a senior research fellow at the Clingendael Institute and the lead author of this report. Sander Wit was affiliated to Clingendael as a research assistant from August 2014–January 2015. Frans-Paul van der Putten is a senior research fellow at Clingendael. Clingendael Institute P.O. Box 93080 2509 AB The Hague The Netherlands Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.clingendael.nl/ Table of Contents Executive Summary 5 Abbreviations 7 Tables, Figures and Boxes 9 1. Introduction 10 The Evolving EU Trade Diplomacy 12 Stepping up Activism in the Asia–Pacific Region 13 2. Triangular Relations: EU–China–Taiwan 14 A Brief History of Europe–Taiwan Relations 14 Focus on the Netherlands 22 Evolving Cross-Strait Relations 26 Expanding Diplomatic Space? 31 3. Taiwan’s Role in East Asian Politics and Economics 34 Trade Diplomacy in East Asia 34 Taiwan’s Trade Diplomacy 35 Taiwan as a Hub 41 From Isolation to Participation? 44 4.
    [Show full text]
  • On Spontaneous Taiwan Mandarin Speech
    Taiwan Journal of Linguistics Vol. 6.2, 1-26, 2008 SPOKEN CORPORA AND ANALYSIS OF NATURAL SPEECH∗ Shu-Chuan Tseng ABSRACT This paper introduces spoken corpora of Taiwan Mandarin created at Academia Sinica and gives an overview of some recent studies carried out utilizing the spoken data. Spoken language resources of Taiwan Mandarin have been collected and processed at Academia Sinica since 2001. As a result, spoken data, which are useful not only for language archives purpose, but also for linguistic studies, has been made available. In addition to creation of the corpus, two lines of research are discussed in which theoretical and empirical studies are connected by using the aforementioned language resources: 1) language variation and change and 2) spoken discourse analysis. Phonetic reduction is one of the main reasons for changes within a language and it is important to take into account different levels of variations in spontaneous speech. For this purpose, we studied syllable contraction/merger, vowel reduction, and phonetic reduction in directional complements. Discourse items also play an essential part, because they add specific implications to sentences and their use is mainly marked by prosodic means. We segmented a spoken discourse into smaller prosodic units to allow for a more precise study of discourse items, prosodic features, and disfluency. These issues are correlated with each other, especially through prosodic markings. ∗ The author sincerely thanks all the students and research assistants who helped label and process the data used for the analyses presented in this paper. Also, the author wants to thank Professor Kathleen Ahrens for her precious comments on the earlier draft of this paper and two anonymous reviewers of Taiwan Journal of Linguistics for their constructive suggestions.
    [Show full text]
  • Central Thesis Statement
    1 Austronesian Heroes or Genetically Alcoholics? Contrasting Taiwan Aboriginal Genetics in Austronesian Migrations Research versus Alcoholism Research By Mark Munsterhjelm Ph.D. Student Sociology and Social Justice Program University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada e-mail: [email protected] I wrote the original version of this paper in 2005 for a graduate level social theory course at the University of Windsor. It contrasts journal article representations of Taiwan Aborigines in Austronesian migrations research on prehistoric settlement of the Pacific with genetics research on alcoholism. and then considers how these differing constructions of Taiwan Aboriginal peoples genes are utilized in Taiwanese nationalist discourses versus health discourses. Central thesis statement How is expert knowledge production a genetics research utilized in the settler governance of Aboriginal peoples? In approaching this paper, I want to take up the issue of biocolonialism, specifically how the emergent technologies of genetics research functions as technologies of colonial governance. This stands in sharp contrast to the arguments put forth in Nikolas Rose and Carlos Novas’ article entitled “Genetic risk and the birth of the somatic individual” (2000) which argues for the emergence of an ideal somatic individual who is able to engage with the new genetics to create new forms of personhood: But genetic risk does not imply resignation in the face of an implacable biological destiny: it induces new and active relations to oneself and one’s future. In particular, it generates new forms of ‘genetic responsibility’, locating actually and potentially affected individuals within new communities of obligation and identification (Rose and Novas, 2000:485). My point is not to refute the particular findings of Rose and Novas but rather that their claims must be qualified by class and power issues, particularly in the context of settler/Aboriginal power relations.
    [Show full text]
  • Here Are Some Basic Facts About Taiwan: Capital:​Taipei (臺北市)
    Taiwan (Republic of China) Here are some basic facts about Taiwan: ● Capital: Taipei (臺北市) ​ ● Currency: New Taiwan dollar (NT$) ​ ● President: Tsai Ing-wen (7th) ​ ● Government: Unitary semi-presidential republic; multiparty unicameral legislature ​ ● Official Language: Mandarin (Chinese; 普通話); other significant national languages: Holo (Taiwanese); Hakka; Austronesian languages ● Population: 23,812,627 (as of 2020) ​ ● Land Area: 32,260 sq km (slightly larger than New Mexico) ​ 2 ● Population Density: 673 per Km ​ (about 18 times larger than the United States) ​ ​ ● Writing Systems: Traditional Chinese (繁体字) ​ Taiwan is the 7th largest economy in Asia. The People's Republic of China (PRC) have identified Taiwan as part of its territory and its most important core interest since the Kuomintang (KMT; the Nationalist Party) government retreated to the island in 1949 following its defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Taiwan is surrounded by states such as the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the west, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. The island of Taiwan has an area of 35,808 square kilometres (13,826 sq mi). Taiwan’s mountain ranges dominate the eastern two thirds and plains in the western third, where its highly urbanised population is concentrated. Taipei is the capital and largest metropolitan city of Taiwan. From as far back as six thousand years ago, the Taiwanese indigenous peoples settled the island of Taiwan. In the 17th century, Dutch rule opened the island to mass Han immigration. After a brief rule by Spain and later the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed in 1683 by the Qing dynasty of China, and ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895.
    [Show full text]
  • The Taiwan Voter
    The Taiwan Voter The Taiwan Voter examines the critical role that ethnic and national iden- tities play in politics, illustrated by the case of Taiwan. That country’s elections often raise international tensions, and they have sometimes led to military demonstrations by China, as in the 1995– 96 Taiwan Strait Crisis. Yet no scholarly books have examined the ways in which Taiwan’s voters make their electoral choices in such a dangerous environment. Critiquing the conventional interpretation of politics as an ideological battle between liberals and conservatives, The Taiwan Voter demonstrates that in Taiwan the party system and the voters’ response to it are instead shaped by one powerful determinant of national identity—the China factor. The book also takes up Taiwan’s voter turnout, “pocketbook vot- ing,” and the effects of the new electoral system adopted in 2004. Taiwan’s electoral politics draws international scholarly interest be- cause of the prominence of ethnic and national identification in its politics. Of course, identities matter almost everywhere. In most coun- tries, though, the many tangled strands of competing identities pres- ent a daunting challenge for scholarly analysis. Taiwan, by contrast, is a country where the cleavages are both powerful and limited in number, so that the logic of the interrelationships among issues, partisanship, and identity are particularly clear. In this book, Christopher H. Achen and T. Y. Wang bring together experts on Taiwan to investigate the ways in which social identities, policy views, and partisan preferences intersect and influence each other. These novel findings have wide applicability to other countries, and thus they will be of interest to a broad range of social scientists interested in identity politics.
    [Show full text]
  • China-Taiwan Relations: the Persistent Deadlock Amid Cycles of Stability and Change
    The College of Wooster Libraries Open Works Senior Independent Study Theses 2016 China-Taiwan Relations: The eP rsistent Deadlock Amid Cycles of Stability and Change Jordan E. Shremshock College of Wooster, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy Recommended Citation Shremshock, Jordan E., "China-Taiwan Relations: The eP rsistent Deadlock Amid Cycles of Stability and Change" (2016). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 7046. https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/7046 This Senior Independent Study Thesis Exemplar is brought to you by Open Works, a service of The oC llege of Wooster Libraries. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Independent Study Theses by an authorized administrator of Open Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. © Copyright 2016 Jordan E. Shremshock CHINA-TAIWAN RELATIONS: THE PERSISTENT DEADLOCK AMID CYCLES OF STABILITY AND CHANGE By Jordan Shremshock An Independent Study Thesis submitted to the Department of International Relations at the College of Wooster March, 2016 in partial fulfillment of the requirements of I.S. Thesis Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey Lantis Second Reader: Dr. Kent Kille 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to my best friend Liz Kittner for constantly helping me see my own worth and potential. Without her encouragement, this process might have killed me. Thank you to my parents, Scott and Gloria Shremshock. Their support and pep talks at all hours kept me grounded and moving forward. Thank you to my support network of friends for listening to my problems, I.S. related and otherwise, and helped me work through them. Thank you to Lynette Mattson for being a persistent force of positivity in my life.
    [Show full text]