On July 5, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared Taiwan free of new SARS infections.
Terrifyingly, the world's first case of SARS this winter was reported in Taiwan on Wednesday. Although this has borne out health authorities' warnings that SARS might stage a comeback during the winter, the Taiwanese people were still shocked when the prediction suddenly came true.
Luckily, this SARS case -- just like the one that was reported in Singapore in September -- involved a medical institution, the Graduate Institute of Preventive Medicine at Taipei's National Defense Medical Center, and so far has not spread to the public.
Although it is urgent that the patient's whereabouts during the past two weeks be investigated, the WHO has already announced that it will not declare Taiwan an infected area. Taiwanese people should not panic nor overreact, but it is necessary for us to take stock of our preparedness for another outbreak.
First, the lack of medical equipment and resources at medical institutions should have been addressed by now.
Second, we must ask where the weak points are in the nation's SARS prevention program. The recent cases in Singapore and Taiwan show that medical laboratories, where the virus is examined and vaccines are researched, are in fact very dangerous but easily ignored. The Cabinet's Department of Health (DOH) conducted safety checks at domestic SARS-related research units in September. After the recent case occurred, the DOH suspended operations at these units so as to carry out an investigation. It is therefore believed that the situation will not get out of control.
Third, it is important that information about the epidemic can be easily understood and that transparency be maintained. The reason SARS went out of control during the outbreak during the first half of the year was that China, where the disease started, ignored and even deliberately concealed information about SARS. The major decline in the Taiwanese stock market following news of the new infection also highlighted the fact that incomplete information only makes matters worse. Yesterday's reaction from the authorities, in which they gave an independent, quick and substantive explanation, received a positive reaction from the WHO. There is good reason to believe that the DOH and hospitals will be able to provide transparent information about future handling of the disease, both to put the people of Taiwan at ease and to avoid international overreactions that might be harmful to Taiwan.
Fourth, it is important to make sure that Taiwan's public health work can be thoroughly carried out, and that better public health habits can be implemented. As soon as the first wave of SARS was brought under control, health authorities went through various steps to train public health personnel, spread public health awareness and improve public health facilities. We will now find out if that personnel will be able to shoulder new responsibilities and whether overall public health conditions have improved. Provided basic preparations are thorough, there will be no room for SARS to once again spin out of control.
Finally, the public's psychological preparedness is an issue. The stock market saw an irrational decline following news of the new infection, only to rebound the next day. This shows that we all believe in Taiwan and the government's preparedness.
As long as the reappearance of SARS is dealt with in an orderly and serious way, we can be confident that the people of Taiwan will be able to handle the situation better than during the first half of the year. Then Taiwan will be able step out from the shadow of SARS.
In the first year of his second term, US President Donald Trump continued to shake the foundations of the liberal international order to realize his “America first” policy. However, amid an atmosphere of uncertainty and unpredictability, the Trump administration brought some clarity to its policy toward Taiwan. As expected, bilateral trade emerged as a major priority for the new Trump administration. To secure a favorable trade deal with Taiwan, it adopted a two-pronged strategy: First, Trump accused Taiwan of “stealing” chip business from the US, indicating that if Taipei did not address Washington’s concerns in this strategic sector, it could revisit its Taiwan
The stocks of rare earth companies soared on Monday following news that the Trump administration had taken a 10 percent stake in Oklahoma mining and magnet company USA Rare Earth Inc. Such is the visible benefit enjoyed by the growing number of firms that count Uncle Sam as a shareholder. Yet recent events surrounding perhaps what is the most well-known state-picked champion, Intel Corp, exposed a major unseen cost of the federal government’s unprecedented intervention in private business: the distortion of capital markets that have underpinned US growth and innovation since its founding. Prior to Intel’s Jan. 22 call with analysts
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) challenges and ignores the international rules-based order by violating Taiwanese airspace using a high-flying drone: This incident is a multi-layered challenge, including a lawfare challenge against the First Island Chain, the US, and the world. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) defines lawfare as “controlling the enemy through the law or using the law to constrain the enemy.” Chen Yu-cheng (陳育正), an associate professor at the Graduate Institute of China Military Affairs Studies, at Taiwan’s Fu Hsing Kang College (National Defense University), argues the PLA uses lawfare to create a precedent and a new de facto legal
International debate on Taiwan is obsessed with “invasion countdowns,” framing the cross-strait crisis as a matter of military timetables and political opportunity. However, the seismic political tremors surrounding Central Military Commission (CMC) vice chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) suggested that Washington and Taipei are watching the wrong clock. Beijing is constrained not by a lack of capability, but by an acute fear of regime-threatening military failure. The reported sidelining of Zhang — a combat veteran in a largely unbloodied force and long-time loyalist of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — followed a year of purges within the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
RSS