Despite the nation’s growing number of swine flu cluster infections and lawmakers across party lines urging the president to launch national security measures in the face of a possible epidemic, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said the situation did not merit a national security meeting. Instead, Ma will attend an epidemic prevention meeting today and listen to expert assessments of the risk of an outbreak, the Presidential Office said.
By calling a national security meeting, Ma would have demonstrated to the public the government’s determination to fight swine flu.
So why is he hesitating?
Many are baffled by the Presidential Office’s apparent determination not to activate national security measures to fight the flu, but a look at Ma’s previous national security meeting might offer some clues.
On Aug. 15 — a week after Typhoon Morakot wreaked havoc in the south, triggering landslides that buried more than 400 people — Ma convened his first national security meeting since taking office in May last year.
When asked by reporters why it took the president so long to call the meeting, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said: “The number of casualties and impact were severe enough that he thought he should convene a national security meeting.”
So, the Presidential Office appears to be arguing that the decision to hold a national security meeting hinged on the death toll.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) statistics show that close to 40,000 people have contracted swine flu in the past three months, and just this past week alone, the number of swine flu patients was put at 12,000. As of yesterday, the nation had recorded five fatalities from swine flu.
In addition to reports on Monday of two cluster infections among military personnel helping with post-typhoon relief and cleanup work in Pingtung County, there were reports that some 300 people in that county’s Wandan Township (萬丹) had been hospitalized with fever, cause unknown.
As the situation deteriorates, the launching of national security measures now would better prepare the government and the public for a possible epidemic.
If we use the logic that prompted Ma to call a national security meeting on Aug. 15, however, the CDC’s current count of swine flu casualties is nowhere near serious enough.
This begs the questions: How many swine flu fatalities would it eventually take to convince Ma that “the situation is severe enough” for him to call a meeting, and why would expert projections of casualties not be sufficent to serve as a trigger?
In an attempt to allay concerns over a possible epidemic, the Presidential Office said that National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) has met with health officials to discuss the issue.
However, given the performance of the NSC in the aftermath of Morakot, the fact that Su is meeting health experts on his own steam is more likely to cause public concern, not allay fears.
Ma’s inept leadership strikes again.
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