The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has responded with “knee-jerk” reactions to COVID-19 policy proposals by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led local governments, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said yesterday at a weekly meeting of the party’s Central Standing Committee.
The central and local governments need to work together to prevent the spread of the disease, he said.
However, over the past year, Taiwan’s 14 KMT-led city and county governments have seen knee-jerk reactions from the DPP whenever disease prevention measures at the local level differed from the advice of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), Chiang said.
It has been common that the DPP has attacked local governments for their policies only to later adopt them, Chiang said.
He listed as examples the New Taipei City Government’s proposals to test all arrivals, implement a registration system for mask sales and increase virus-related restrictions.
The Kinmen County Government urged authorities to screen all arrivals to the nation’s outlying islands for COVID-19, while the Taichung City Government suggested that pregnant women be prioritized to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, Chiang said.
The Changhua County Government closed all night markets within its jurisdiction, he said, referring to a decision on May 14 to shut down more than 50 night markets.
The CECC on Tuesday announced that all arrivals to Taiwan would be required to undergo a polymerase chain reaction test for COVID-19 at the end of their quarantine — a policy the KMT proposed a year ago, Chiang said.
In a statement, the CECC said that the new rule was in response to the worldwide spread of the Delta COVID-19 variant, which was first detected in India and is believed to be more easily transmissible than other variants.
If the CECC does not treat local governments like partners and understand their differing opinions, this would not benefit the nation’s prevention measures, but would result in policies being drafted behind closed doors, Chiang said.
He accused the DPP of using the issue to attack the heads of local governments and of manipulating public opinion for its own political gain.
It has ignored positive recommendations put forth by the KMT and smeared opposition parties to deepen social divisions, he added.
Taiwan should prepare for infections with the Delta variant that has been raging in other countries, he said.
Chiang reiterated that “effective and sufficient vaccines are the ultimate solution” to the domestic COVID-19 situation.
While the KMT is grateful for donations of vaccines from Japan, Lithuania and the US, “the help of international friends should not become a political achievement propagated by the ruling party,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
RSS