Flu epidemics kill 250,000 to 500,000 people each year and cause severe illness in 3 million to 5 million. However, new strains that jump from animals to humans can be even more devastating if the population has no immunity.
1918 “Spanish flu” — The most devastating flu pandemic in recent history was caused by a strain of H1N1 influenza that killed 20 million to 50 million people. The pandemic spread in three more or less simultaneous waves through Europe, Asia and North America. Unusually, the virus was particularly lethal in young adults. The origins of the virus are still unknown.
1957-1958 “Asian flu” — First identified in China, this H2N2 virus caused about 2 million deaths worldwide. The virus is thought to have emerged after a human form of H2N2 combined with a mutant strain in ducks. The strain has not circulated in humans since 1968, so much of the population has no immunity.
1968-1969 “Hong Kong flu” — The pandemic was first detected in Hong Kong. The H3N2 virus killed about 1 million people globally. H3N2 viruses still circulate today.
1997 “Bird flu” — For the first time, an influenza virus was found to spread directly from birds to people. The H5N1 bird flu infections were linked to poultry markets. The WHO has recorded 598 cases since 2003, with 352 deaths.
2009 “Swine flu” — The H1N1 “swine flu” virus originated in Mexico in 2009, a combination of a Eurasian swine flu virus with another strain that was a mix of bird, swine and human flu. It went on to kill more than 18,000 people.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
Within Taiwan’s education system exists a long-standing and deep-rooted culture of falsification. In the past month, a large number of “ghost signatures” — signatures using the names of deceased people — appeared on recall petitions submitted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) against Democratic Progressive Party legislators Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶). An investigation revealed a high degree of overlap between the deceased signatories and the KMT’s membership roster. It also showed that documents had been forged. However, that culture of cheating and fabrication did not just appear out of thin air — it is linked to the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
On April 19, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) gave a public speech, his first in about 17 years. During the address at the Ketagalan Institute in Taipei, Chen’s words were vague and his tone was sour. He said that democracy should not be used as an echo chamber for a single politician, that people must be tolerant of other views, that the president should not act as a dictator and that the judiciary should not get involved in politics. He then went on to say that others with different opinions should not be criticized as “XX fellow travelers,” in reference to
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