Wed, Jun 09, 2021 page3

• COVID-19: Government intolerant of diverse opinions: KMT

  NEUTRALITY: An expert has resigned from the vaccine review committee because President Tsai Ing-wen has compromised the process, the KMT said

  • By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter
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  The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday accused the government of becoming increasingly intolerant of different opinions in its response to COVID-19.

  Speaking at an online news conference from the party’s headquarters in Taipei, KMT Culture and Communications Committee director-general Alicia Wang (王育敏) compared the government’s COVID-19 response to a “dictatorship.”

  President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration “is becoming more and more autocratic and intolerant of diverse voices,” she said.

  The resignation of Academia Sinica academician Chen Pei-jer (陳培哲) from the vaccine review committee was “the best proof” of that, she said.

  She was referring to remarks by Chen, who on Monday said that he had resigned late last month because he felt the committee would have trouble staying neutral when reviewing domestic vaccine candidates.

  Chen added that the major challenge to staying neutral came from “President Tsai herself” after she said that a locally developed COVID-19 vaccine was expected to be available late next month.

  Other people have in the past been attacked by Democratic Progressive Party-friendly commentators for holding different opinions from the government, Wang said.

  ‘ECHO CHAMBER’

  “The Tsai administration has really become an echo chamber,” Wang said, urging the president to rein in the attacks against Chen.

  Tsai had told the public early on that people would be able to receive domestically manufactured vaccines by the end of next month, Wang said.

  With the announcement, it has become useless for members of the review committee to express opposing views, because Tsai had already “ordered” that domestic vaccines should be available next month, she said.

  The purpose of having a review committee is to give professionals an independent platform to express their opinions truthfully without coming under political pressure, Wang said.

  Only when committee members are willing to do so can the public trust the safety and efficacy of the vaccines approved by the committee, she said.

  If different opinions cannot be raised faithfully, the public might have doubts about the safety and efficacy of domestic vaccines, she added.

  The issue of domestic vaccines is a professional and scientific one, and should not be subject to political interference, Wang said.

  She added that the KMT supports the development and use of domestic vaccines whose safety and effectiveness have been fully verified.

  NEVER HEARD?

  Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said on Monday evening that the Presidential Office was not aware of either Chen’s appointment or resignation as a member of the vaccine review committee.

  Even though Chen has recently expressed different views, the office fully respects his right to speak, Chang said, calling Chen’s statements “puzzling and regrettable.”

  The government has on several occasions expressed its position that the process of developing and manufacturing any vaccine must follow a rigorous scientific procedure, he said.

  Additional reporting by CNA
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