Officials from the WHO were questioned on Thursday about Taiwan’s exclusion from the organization and its global disease prevention efforts amid escalating fears over the spread of a new coronavirus that originated in China.
At an international news conference after a two-day WHO emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the deadly new coronavirus, the agency was asked whether it would consider accepting Taiwan as a member and would exchange information about the virus, as diseases know no borders.
WHO Health Emergencies Program executive director Michael Ryan said that the organization works “very closely with technical partners in China, Taiwan,” referring to Taiwan.
Photo: AFP
He said that during the SARS outbreak in Taiwan in 2003, the WHO provided technical support to Taiwan.
“Nobody would deny necessary public health assistance in that situation,” Ryan said.
He added that he believes Taiwanese authorities were working very closely with those in China.
“I believe there have been joint missions and joint approaches to the response, so I would characterize, from our perspective, that there is technical cooperation going on between provinces in China, and between WHO and any of those entities that seek our assistance,” Ryan said.
Taiwan was excluded from the two-day meeting, which was attended by all other countries that had reported cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).
Taiwan was not invited to attend, a decision that drew wide criticism of the world body.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday urged the WHO not to exclude Taiwan from global efforts to contain the virus, and called on China to fulfill its responsibility as a member of the global society by providing adequate information to Taiwan about the disease’s spread.
As of Friday, a total of 168 suspected cases of the new coronavirus had been reported in Taiwan. Three were confirmed as having the virus, while 42 cases were ruled out, the Central Epidemic Command Center said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust
Central and southern Taiwan are to see increasingly heavy rainfall from last night through Friday due to the effects of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said Tropical Storm Co-May had weakened into a low-pressure system on Saturday, but that it strengthened again into a tropical depression (TD 11) near the seas around Japan's Ryukyu Islands due to favorable environmental conditions. The tropical depression is expected to persist for two to three days, moving west-northwest by this afternoon and reaching China's Zhejiang through the East China Sea tomorrow,
RSS