Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) yesterday urged the WHO to be honest as the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) published the e-mail it had sent to the world body in December last year alerting it about the risk of an outbreak in China.
The WHO on Friday said it received an e-mail from the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Dec. 31 last year, but added that “there was no mention in the message of human-to-human transmission.”
During a news conference at the CECC in Taipei yesterday, Chen read out the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) e-mail to the WHO International Health Regulations (IHR) Focal Point on Dec. 31 last year.
Photo: CNA
“News resources today indicate that at least seven atypical pneumonia cases were reported in Wuhan, China,” the e-mail read. “Their health authorities replied to the media that the cases were believed not SARS; however, the samples are still under examination, and cases have been isolated for treatment.”
“I would greatly appreciate it if you have relevant information to share with us. Thank you very much in advance for your attention to this matter,” it added.
China commonly uses the term “atypical pneumonia” to refer to SARS, but Chinese authorities had been ambiguous in describing the novel coronavirus as “an atypical pneumonia, but not SARS.”
“The e-mail specifically noted that patients had been isolated for treatment,” Chen said. “Any public health expert or medical professional would know what circumstances would require patients to be isolated for treatment.”
As there were no confirmed cases in Taiwan at the time, the CDC could not definitively state that there had been human-to-human transmission of the disease, he added.
“We would really be giving a misleading message if we firmly stated that there was human-to-human transmission, so we clearly alerted the IHR about the information we received,” he said.
“If our warning to the WHO that the patients were ‘isolated for treatment’ does not count as a warning, than what does?” Chen said.
“While Taiwan, a non-member state, has informed the WHO, I would like to ask whether China, a WHO member, had informed the WHO about the situation?” Chen said, adding that if China did not alert the WHO at the time, then it had been concealing the truth about COVID-19, and if China did alert the WHO, then the WHO has neglected its duty in warning the world.
Chen urged the WHO to be honest in dealing with the issue and stop trying to shift the focus.
The CECC in a news release said that the IHR Focal Point only responded with a short message stating that Taiwan’s information had been forwarded to experts.
Taiwan strongly suspected that human-to-human transmission was already occurring at the time, but could not confirm it, so enhanced border control and quarantine measures were implemented based on the assumption, including screening passengers on flights from Wuhan prior to disembarkation starting on Dec. 31 last year, the release said.
The CDC also sent experts to Wuhan in January to gain a better understanding of the outbreak, patients’ exposure history and the control measures taken there, it added.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
RSS