National Security Bureau Director Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明) shocked the public on Monday when he told lawmakers that the SARS outbreak in 2003 may have been spawned by China.
In response to Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Twu Shiing-jer’s (涂醒哲) query on whether the bureau had concluded that the SARS virus, which first emerged six years ago, was a biological weapon created by China, Tsai said that evidence was not conclusive, but that sources within China suspected this was the case.
Less than 12 hours later, however, the bureau issued a statement saying that Tsai’s remarks had been misunderstood, even though his comments were a matter of public record.
Tsai offered an apology the next day for misspeaking, with Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) saying on the legislative floor that he believed the bureau director has simply made a mistake.
The sudden retraction of such an alarming statement has left many wondering what the truth is.
The public has vivid memories of the global scare sparked by SARS in 2003.
In Taiwan, the virus claimed 73 lives, making it the country with the third-highest death toll after China and Hong Kong.
There was also a psychological price to pay, with people having to wear facial masks and having to have their temperatures checked before entering office buildings and public venues. There was panic when anyone had the slightest fever or even the sniffles.
Given Tsai’s position and extensive experience as one of the nation’s top security officials, it seems difficult to swallow that he would make such an accusation against China without reason to believe it.
If the accusation is true, why doesn’t the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) tell the truth? Why would the government ask Tsai to be silent if he were telling the truth, rather than issuing a condemnation of Beijing for playing with people’s lives?
Interestingly, the Presidential Office issued an abrupt statement late on Tuesday commending Tsai’s performance as bureau chief.
Tsai may deserve praise for his years of service in national security, but the timing of that statement raised eyebrows.
While some political observers suggested the statement served as public endorsement for Tsai, and thus intended to silence Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators who called for the bureau chief to resign, others suspected that it was a message to Beijing to indicate that Tsai had misspoken.
This would avoid tensions ahead of the planned visit by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), who is expected here at the end of the month or next month.
Regardless of how one interprets the statement, one thing remains true — we need a government not afraid of telling the truth.
If Tsai’s accusation against China is false, then he should come forward and make a clear account of what he meant. If Tsai spoke the truth, why is the government covering up such despicable behavior by Beijing?
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