Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday blasted the WHO for treating Taiwan as part of China in the fight against the new coronavirus, adding that some WHO officials live in a “parallel universe.”
Wu blamed a WHO report on the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) for the decisions made by Italy and Vietnam to ban flights to and from Taiwan as part of their efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, accusing it of providing “inaccurate information.”
Italy on Friday announced it would suspend all flights from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan from yesterday to April 28, after confirming two cases of the virus earlier that day.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Vietnam on Saturday afternoon announced a similar ban, for 90 days, but reversed the decision a few hours later.
In the WHO report dated Saturday, “Taipei” was included in a list of provinces, regions and cities of China with confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV. In the table of confirmed cases worldwide, it listed China with 11,821 cases, including cases in Hong Kong SAR (13), Macau SAR (7) and Taipei (10).
The way the figures were presented “led to the misconception that Taiwan is part of China and a seriously infected area,” Wu said.
Taiwan is not a member of the UN and is routinely listed as part of China by UN-affiliated organizations.
Wu said that he suspected the WHO report was a key factor in Italy’s decision, because the suspension of flights was made on the recommendation of Italian health authorities and the announcement used the term “Taipei” and other language similar to that found in the WHO report.
Italy’s flight ban against Taiwan has negatively affected thousands of travelers, and they are not likely to get compensation from airlines or from the WHO, the minister said.
“I would like to publicly call upon the WHO to recognize the simple fact that Taiwan is Taiwan and it is not part of the People’s Republic of China,” Wu said.
Healthcare in Taiwan and China are administered by separate authorities, as are their flight information regions, he said.
Those WHO officials who have praised Beijing for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak appear to be living in a “parallel universe,” Wu said.
Vietnam’s no-fly order on Saturday afternoon forced a StarLux Airlines flight to Da Nang to return to the terminal at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport even though it was preparing to take off, while an EVA Airways flight en route to Hanoi was forced to turn around and head back to Taiwan.
The airlines then postponed the departures to 11pm on Saturday.
Although the Vietnamese ban was only in effect for three hours on Saturday, Kaohsiung International Airport data showed that Vietnam Airlines canceled two flights scheduled for yesterday morning, VN581 to Ho Chi Minh City and VN587 to Hanoi.
Flight VN583 to Ho Chi Minh City, which was scheduled to depart at 2:50pm yesterday, was delayed, while flight VN580D from Ho Chi Minh City to Kaohsiung, scheduled to arrive at 3:05pm, was canceled and another flight scheduled to arrive at 12am this morning was delayed.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
RSS