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
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS