All details of charter flights to evacuate Taiwanese in China amid the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak must be negotiated by Taipei and Beijing, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday, adding that loopholes exposed by a charter flight from Wuhan, China, on Monday must not be exploited again.
Su made the remarks at a weekly Cabinet meeting amid controversy surrounding the flight, which carried three passengers who were not on an approved list, including one who was confirmed to be infected with the virus after the airplane landed, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka told a news conference.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Central Committee member Vincent Hsu (徐正文), who represents a self-help group of Taiwanese in Wuhan, helped arrange the flight.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Control over the situation had been completely lost and such incidents must not be allowed to occur again, Kolas quoted Su as saying.
The premier gave four instructions for evacuation flights, Kolas said.
First, disadvantaged people — including those on short-term business trips, on long-term medication, and the elderly and young — must be given priority for the charter flights, Su said.
Second, the government would demand that its health personnel inspect flights before passengers board to screen for the disease and prevent people from “sneaking” onto the aircraft, he said.
Taiwan would provide first-rate treatment to anyone exhibiting pneumonia-like symptoms after their return, but the government values the health of other passengers as well, he added.
Third, Chinese authorities must provide Taipei with complete lists of passengers for verification, Su said, adding that a last-minute manifest, such as the one provided just before Monday’s charter flight, would not be accepted.
Fourth, charter flights must be arranged on a government-to-government basis, he said, adding that no more intermediaries would be allowed.
Details on the flights must be ironed out by the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits or higher-ranking agencies, Su said.
Any intermediary attempting to speak for the government in an attempt to win praise would not be welcome, he added.
Local media yesterday reported that a Taiwanese minor with hemophilia was left stranded in Wuhan after they were “negotiated” off the list of passengers at the last minute.
The child has reportedly run out of medicine and might only survive until about Monday.
Asked about the government’s response, the Mainland Affairs Council said that the child would be given priority if there is a second evacuation flight and that it was arranging for Taiwanese businesspeople to deliver the needed medication.
Separately yesterday, the KMT said that it would suspend Hsu’s membership.
Hsu was not part of a seven-member group that helped negotiate the charter flight to evacuate Taiwanese, it said in a statement.
Without the party’s authorization, he held several news conferences and spoke to reporters about the outbreak, it said.
In addition to “creating panic,” Hsu “disrupted and hindered” efforts by the government and other groups to cooperate on fighting the outbreak, it added.
Hsu’s behavior “severely damaged the party’s image and reputation,” the statement said.
After consulting members of the KMT Disciplinary Committee, the party said that it decided to “first suspend [Hsu’s] party rights,” adding that a further disciplinary review would follow.
Additional reporting by CNA
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
ANNUAL EVENT: Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in Daan Park, with an event zone operating from 10am to 6pm This year’s Taipei Floral Picnic is to be held at Daan Park today and tomorrow, featuring an exclusive Pokemon Go event, a themed food market, a coffee rave picnic area and stage performances, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said yesterday. Two massive Pokemon balloons are to be set up in the park as attractions, with an exclusive event zone operating from 10am to 6pm, it said. Participants who complete designated tasks on-site would have a chance to receive limited-edition souvenirs, it added. People could also try the newly launched game Pokemon Pokopia in the trial area, the department said. Three PokeStops are
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
RSS