Two World Health Organization (WHO) experts arrived in Taipei last night to help with Taiwan's outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, according government and WHO officials.
WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said in a telephone interview late last night that experts with the communicable disease section of the WHO were in Taiwan to do a "preliminary assessment" of the SARS outbreak.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The experts are scheduled to stay in Taiwan for "a few days, or maybe a week" for their work, which was being done out of humanitarian concern, Thompson said.
The WHO will then decide whether it will dispatch more personnel to Taiwan, he said.
Senior officials yesterday were skeptical about China's role in the WHO's decision to send a professional team to help with Taiwan's outbreak of the potentially fatal flu-like disease.
Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (
"Since the very beginning of the outbreak here, we've been in close and direct contact with the WHO," Lin said. "China played no part in the WHO's deciding to send medical experts to help us combat the disease."
China's Ministry of Health (MOH) said late Friday through Xinhua that China had allowed WHO officials could come to Taiwan to investigate the epidemic.
The Xinhua report also said the ministry would cooperate with Taiwan by sharing its experience and information with Taiwan in order to fight the spread of SARS.
According to Xinhua, the ministry also said the Chinese government has been very concerned about Taiwanese people's welfare and that the government has been very attentive to the development of SARS in Taiwan.
"I don't have faith in China," said Lee Lung-teng (李龍騰), deputy director-general of the Department of Health (DOH).
"On the basis of how China has treated us in the past, I don't think they could be sincere this time," Lee said.
Lee added he did not think China had displayed much goodwill when agreeing to an official WHO trip to Taiwan. "They [China] only want the WHO to see they are really taking care of Taiwan," Lee said.
According to Lee, China also intended to show off its influence over the WHO by agreeing with the officials' trip to Taiwan. "The WHO officials cannot come to Taiwan without China nodding its head," he said.
"They are simply playing politics. I will not play politics with them," Lee said.
Chen Ming-tung (
Even though China has allowed the WHO officials to come to Taiwan, it still opposes Taiwan's entrance into the WHO because it simply will not compromise on its sovereignty disputes with Taiwan, Chen said.
Meanwhile, Wu Shuh-min (
"What can they do here? They can hardly help. As for us, we could at most but provide them with our experience [in combating SARS]," Wu said.
Wu, a doctor and president of the Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan (FMPAT), Taiwan's major lobbying group in the WHA, is under quarantine, though he remains healthy.
"China permitted WHO officials to visit Taiwan because it is under massive pressure from the international community," Wu said.
According to Wu, China has often claimed it takes care of Taiwanese people's health.
"However, the SARS outbreak in Taiwan has pulverized China's myth," he said.
Taiwan's first imported SARS case came from China, said the Center for Disease Control.
Taiwan and many other countries are suffering from China's cover-ups of its SARS outbreak. "I am really curious whether China still has the guts to proclaim to the member states in the WHA that it always takes care of the Taiwanese people's health," Wu said.
Also See Stories:
SARS lines opened for foreigners
SARS epidemic: Ma warns of SARS fight ahead in city
SARS epidemic: Executive Yuan announces insurance plan
SARS epidemic: Chen postpones diplomatic trip to Central America
SARS epidemic: Lawmaker urges quarantine overhaul
SARS epidemic: Taiwan `medium' SARS-virus risk, WHO announces
US lawmakers want role for Taiwan at the WHO
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source