President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) owes the public an apology for an outbreak of COVID-19 on the navy supply ship Panshih (磐石), the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday.
The ship was one of three vessels in the navy’s “Friendship Flotilla” that returned from a trip to Palau earlier this month.
The party accused Tsai of trying to pin the blame for the outbreak on the vessel on the Ministry of National Defense.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The outbreak might blow a hole in the nation’s efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, KMT Culture and Communications Committee chair Alicia Wang (王育敏) told a news conference at the party’s headquarters in Taipei.
The outbreak on the Panshih is significant, she said, adding that as an opposition party, the KMT must “go after the truth” and find out where the responsibility lies.
Judging from an emergency news conference called by the ministry on Tuesday night, it appears as if Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) wanted to shoulder all responsibility, Wang said.
However, the decision to send the flotilla to Palau was not for Yen to make on his own, she said.
Wang urged Tsai to apologize and take responsibility for the outbreak, as well as supervise the ministry’s investigations.
The mission was approved, despite much discussion at the time surrounding the risk of COVID-19 transmission on ships due to an outbreak on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, committee deputy chair Lee Yung-ping (李永萍) said.
Tsai later yesterday apologized to the nation in an address at the Presidential Office.
“I have already asked the ministry to clarify the truth and correct the mistake within the shortest time,” she said.
The “hole” in the nation’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 must be quickly fixed, she added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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