The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday confirmed that more than 830,000 nonmedical-grade masks were seized at customs for being falsely labeled as being made in Taiwan.
Tsai Shou-chuan (蔡壽洤), head of the center’s supply division, said that customs conducted batch-by-batch inspections on imported masks from Aug. 10 to Friday, and 577 batches of nonmedical-grade masks — a total of about 838,320 masks — were seized for false labeling.
The Bureau of Foreign Trade would fine those responsible, while prosecutors would investigate and decide whether the masks should be returned or destroyed, he said.
Photo: CNA
The seizure comes after the owner of New Taipei City-based mask supplier Carry Hi-tech Co (加利科技) was last week accused of importing more than 3 million nonmedical-grade masks from China and selling them through the government’s mask rationing system as medical masks made in Taiwan.
Asked if importers of the seized masks included local mask suppliers of medical masks for the government’s mask rationing system, Tsai said they did, and that an investigation report would be released in two weeks.
However, the center later said that his response was “a slip of the tongue,” and that the center has not yet confirmed whether suppliers for the government’s mask rationing system were involved.
As for people who bought masks with the “Carry mask” logo imprinted on them, the case is being investigated by the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office.
The center had announced that people who had bought Carry Hi-tech masks through the rationing system could exchange them at pharmacies from Friday.
Tsai yesterday said that more than 530,000 Carry Hi-tech masks were exchanged on Friday and another 743,202 were exchanged on Saturday, bringing the total number of recalled Carry Hi-tech masks to 1,279,177 in the first two days.
More than 1.19 million Carry Hi-tech masks, or 90 percent, were recalled in New Taipei City, he added.
Meanwhile, the center yesterday reported an imported case of COVID-19 — a Taiwanese man who had returned from the Philippines.
The man, who is in his 40s, works and lives in the Philippines, and returned to Taiwan alone on Thursday, center spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.
The man began experiencing a fever, sore throat, coughing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and sore muscles on Tuesday last week, but did not seek medical attention, he said.
Chuang said the man reported that a Filipino friend who lives with him had tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
The man had informed the airline personnel about his condition before boarding the plane, and wore a mask and protective clothing throughout the flight, he said, adding that his first test result taken at the airport came back negative.
As the man continued to experience shortness of breath and chest tightness during his stay at a centralized quarantine facility, he was tested again and the test came back positive yesterday, making him the nation’s 493rd confirmed case, Chuang said.
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
RSS