Taiwan warned the WHO and China about possible human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus at the end of last year, but the global health body did not make it public, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Department of International Organizations Director-General Bob Chen (陳龍錦) made the remark at a news briefing in Taipei, when asked about statements made by US Department of State spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus.
“Dec. 31— that’s the same day Taiwan first tried to warn WHO of human-human transmission. Chinese authorities meanwhile silenced doctors and refused to admit human-human transmission until Jan. 20, with catastrophic consequences,” Ortagus wrote on Twitter yesterday.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Her tweet was in response to a post by Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩), who wrote that the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission had issued a notice about the virus on Dec. 31 last year.
The commission’s notice reported 27 cases, including seven severe ones, in Wuhan, but said that no obvious transmission among people had been observed.
The Centers for Disease Control on Dec. 31 last year did ask China and the WHO’s International Health Regulations contact for information about the abnormal outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, while the ministry’s representative office in Geneva, Switzerland, also contacted the WHO secretariat, Chen said.
On the same day, the centers started implementing onboard inspections on direct flights from Wuhan landing in Taiwan, he said.
The WHO later replied that it received the message and would transfer it to other experts, but did not make it public, he said.
There are e-mail records of the communication between the centers and the WHO, he added.
Taiwan’s disease prevention strategy was predicated on the concept that the virus could be transmitted among people, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said.
The nation thanks the US and other like-minded nations for their support, and would work with the global community to contain the virus, she said.
Meanwhile, the WHO secretariat is still evaluating whether to convene the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly from May 17 to 21, turn it into a virtual meeting or postpone it until autumn, Chen said.
Although it is almost impossible for WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to invite Taiwan to join the assembly as an observer, the ministry would continue to push for Taiwan’s participation in the meeting, he said.
In other developments, British Secretary of Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Dominic Raab has advised all Britons who are usually based in the UK to return home soon, given the rapidly changing situation regarding travel restrictions and flights, the British Office Taipei said in a statement.
The advice does not apply to Britons who are residents in Taiwan.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net