Countering statements made by China's Taiwan Affairs Office yesterday afternoon, Center for Disease Control Director General Su Ih-jen (蘇益仁) called an emergency press conference last night to clarify that Beijing has not been taking care of the health needs of the people of Taiwan as Chinese officials had claimed.
"Whether Taiwan is invited to observe at the World Health Assembly is not just about Taiwan-China relations," Su said.
He cited three examples to argue that Taiwan's healthcare needs had not been met by Chinese health authorities and that China had refrained from promptly and accurately reporting on its difficulties with infectious disease.
"The first example is SARS," Su said. "By the time China reported their SARS situation in January, there were already 130 patients in a Guangdong hospital. The first SARS patient had actually been identified in November."
The case of avian flu discovered in Hong Kong in 1997 was also a case in point, Su said. He noted that by the time the Hong Kong's bird-flu case was reported, Guangdong had already seen several cases of the disease.
"Hong Kong was the first victim. This just shows that closer health ties with China actually leads only to greater risks," Su said.
The third example Su raised was that of HIV/AIDS. He explained that while China had not admitted to the existence of several "AIDS villages" in China until two years ago, AIDS villages were already a problem 10 years ago.
Su called the press conference in the absence of Department of Health Director General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), who is now in Germany.
Su also rebutted Beijing's claim that Taiwanese researchers were invited to medical conferences in China.
"Every year, before the World Health Assembly is held, China holds several medical conferences and invites several Taiwanese researchers to attend," Su said.
"If Taiwan needs information on China right now, it comes from other nations that China has communicated with or from the WHO," Su said.
"Only if Taiwan participates in the WHO will we be able to exchange health information and experiences of prevention with other nations," Su said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS