Taiwanese who have been stranded in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of a coronavirus outbreak, would soon be repatriated on a charter flight, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it is facilitating the arrangement.
More than a dozen countries, including the US, the UK, France, Japan, Australia, India, Indonesia and South Korea, have evacuated or are planning to evacuate their citizens from China.
Taiwan had tried to arrange a charter flight to repatriate Taiwanese who have expressed a desire to return home, but Chinese authorities refused the request until yesterday.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The Taiwanese have been stranded in Wuhan since Jan. 23, when China locked down the city to prevent the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection.
The state-run China News Service yesterday reported that the office in charge of Taiwan affairs in Hubei Province, of which Wuhan is the capital, said it would soon arrange the first stage of evacuations, allowing about 200 Taiwanese to return home.
The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) confirmed the development, adding that it would keep a close eye on further updates and help coordinate the efforts.
A total of 503 Taiwanese are in Wuhan, 86 percent of whom are there for travel, business or to transfer flights, said Hsu Cheng-wen (徐正文), who represents a support group for Taiwanese who want to return home.
“Their biggest wish is to return to Taiwan,” Hsu said, adding that they are willing to be placed under quarantine after returning home, despite being in good health.
One of the two Taiwanese who was infected in Wuhan has been hospitalized, while the other’s situation is being investigated, Hsu added.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications confirmed that China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) would dispatch a charter flight.
The airline is awaiting instructions, the ministry said, adding that the flight can be dispatched once the council and the SEF settle the evacuation’s details with Chinese authorities.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said the center has made preparations to handle the evacuation, including quarantine measures and settlement in Taiwan.
Settlement measures would include health monitoring, accommodation and food during 14 days of quarantine, he said.
The center would send medical professionals on the evacuation flight, and the passengers would be provided with protective clothing and N95 respirator masks to prevent possible cross-infection, he added.
“Taiwanese who are confirmed to have 2019-nCoV will not be allowed to board the charter flight,” Chen said, adding that suspected cases would be separated from other passengers.
The timing of the evacuation is being negotiated between the Taiwanese and Chinese governments, he added.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that if the evacuees show any symptoms before boarding the airplane, they would be immediately hospitalized upon their arrival in Taiwan.
The CDC has also arranged facilities in northern, central and southern Taiwan to quarantine the evacuees, but would not announce their location at this point to avoid panic or stigmatization, Chuang said.
Asked about Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) remark yesterday that one of the facilities is a dormitory in Taipei’s Yangmingshan (陽明山) area, Chen said that anyone who discloses the information without the CECC’s consent would be dealt with in accordance with regulations.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan and CNA
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
TWO HEAVYWEIGHTS: Trump and Xi respect each other, are in a unique position to do something great, and they want to do that together, the US envoy to China said The administration of US President Donald Trump has told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “we don’t want any coercion, but we want [the Taiwan dispute] resolved peacefully,” US ambassador to China David Perdue said in a TV interview on Thursday. Trump “has said very clearly, we are not changing the ‘one China’ policy, we are going to adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act, the three communiques and the ‘six assurances’ that were done under [former US president Ronald] Reagan,” Perdue told Joe Kernen, cohost of CNBC’s Squawk Box. The act, the Three Joint Communiques and the “six assurances” are guidelines for Washington
DEEPENING TIES: The two are boosting cooperation in response to China’s coercive actions and have signed MOUs on search-and-rescue and anti-smuggling efforts Taiwan and Japan are moving to normalize joint coast guard training and considering the inclusion of other allies, the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. Both nations’ coast guards in June sent vessels to the seas south of the Sakishima Islands to conduct joint training, the report said, adding that it was the second joint maritime training exercise since the nations severed formal diplomatic ties in September 1972. Japan dispatched the Nagoya Coast Guard’s Mizuho, a 134m, 6,000-tonne patrol vessel which can carry a helicopter, while the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sent the 126m, 4,000-tonne Yunlin, one of its largest vessels, the report
RSS