Beijing is pushing away not only the Taiwanese people but Xi Jinping's 'Chinese Dream'

Focus Taiwan
DATE: 2020/02/08
By:  Taiwan News

On Feb. 3, the first charter jet sent to evacuate Taiwanese businessmen stranded in Wuhan was found to have someone on board infected with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as well as dozens of "uninvited" passengers believed to be the Chinese spouses of Taiwanese businessmen instead of the elderly, children, and those with medical emergencies, leading to merely half an evacuation.

A backlash mounted on the island as the government officials involved in the operation and the public were surprised to learn that those in need had not returned on the jet and that a man confirmed to be infected had arrived without the knowledge of Taiwanese authorities, putting other passengers and Taiwanese as a whole at risk.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) criticized the Taiwanese government four days later, accusing it of overreacting and of being politically motivated when it blocked subsequent flights from returning the remaining stranded Taiwanese. His remarks coincide with a popular petition launched by professional medical workers calling for the government to carefully select and schedule passengers on subsequent charter jets before they board the planes.

Let's hear what those on the front line have to say. A petition launched by medical professionals titled "Medical workers supporting the Taiwan government's insistence on medical defense" urges the authorities to allow only citizens to board evacuation jets, as many other countries do, and to limit the number of flights to a certain period of time, as Taiwan is not able to deal with every compatriot in Wuhan coming back all at once.

Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中, back right) boards the SuperStar Aquarius in Keelung Harbor on Friday.

Focus Taiwan
Date: .02/08/2020
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Matthew Mazzetta

Taipei, Feb. 8 (CNA) The 128 passengers singled out for further testing for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) aboard the SuperStar Aquarius, an international cruise liner docked in Keelung Harbor, have all tested negative, Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced Saturday night.

In a 9:00 p.m. press conference, the CECC said the more than 2,000 passengers and crew members held aboard the ship Saturday while testing for the virus was conducted have been cleared to disembark.    [FULL  STORY]

NEW CASE Cases of 2019-nCoV increased to 17 in Taiwan yesterday after the son of a couple confirmed to have the virus, possibly contracted during a flight, tested positive

Taipei Times
Date:  Feb 09, 2020 
By Lee I-chia and Chien Hui-ju  /  Staff reporters

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, left, speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday as Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen looks on.

The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced that the “big three links” are to be suspended, effective tomorrow, due to the threat of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

The decision came a day after the council announced that the “small three links” are to be suspended, also starting tomorrow.

The “small three links” are the ferry services connecting Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China’s Fujian Province, while the “big three links” refers to direct cross-strait maritime services between Taiwan proper and Chinese cities.

Ocean transportation for the “big three links” includes the Natchan Rera (麗娜輪) the Hai Xia Hao (海峽號) and the Cosco Star (中遠之星), the council said.

Suspending links was a preventive measure and their resumption would depend on how the situation evolves, MAC Deputy Minister Lee Li-jane (李麗珍) said.    [FULL  STORY]

The News Lens
Date: 2020/02/07
By: Jeremy Van der Haegen

A cruise ship carrying over 1,700 Taiwanese passengers has been sent back and forth between the ports of Taiwan and Japan.

The cruise ship Superstar Aquarius, carrying over 1,700 Taiwanese passengers on board, has made yet another U-turn from Okinawa’s Naha port to Keelung, Taiwan. 

Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced on February 5 that international cruise ships that have visited China, Hong Kong or Macau in the last 14 days will be prohibited from docking at Taiwanese ports. The immediate decision, however, left the Superstar Aquarius cruise ship temporarily stranded between Naha and Keelung. 

Originally scheduled to return to Keelung on Friday, February 7, the Superstar Aquarius has sailed in circles as the Taiwanese and Japanese government officials negotiated on where the passengers can be dropped off. 

After the cruise ship ban, the CECC had only permitted the Taiwanese nationals onboard to return via the Keelung seaport. Meanwhile, passengers from the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and other countries were to be dropped off at Naha. But the Japanese government rejected the docking today and sent the ship back to Keelung.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s offshore islands ban all travelers from China regardless of nationality due to epidemic fears

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/07
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Lienchiang County Government said Friday (Feb. 7) it will halt access to the Matsu Islands from China as a preventive measure against the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

The Lienchiang Traffic and Tourism Bureau said individuals traveling from China cannot visit the Matsu Islands, even if they are local residents. The government organization had previously banned all Chinese nationals from entering the county, but has now decided to implement stricter travel policies to stop the spread of the virus, reported New Talk.

The Lienchiang office of the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) added that all ferries to the offshore islands have been suspended. Citizens can still travel to China by plane but will not be able to return until a later date.

Lienchiang County Chief Liu Cheng-ying (劉增應) said few Taiwanese had visited the Matsu Islands since the viral outbreak, so the new policy would not affect many citizens. He said the decision had been made to protect the health of local residents and the county government would make adjustments according to the situation, reported CNA.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 02/07/2020
By: Chang Min-hsuan and Ko Lin

Taipei, Feb. 7 (CNA) People who had previously been to several specific locations around Taipei, Keelung City and New Taipei on Jan. 31 that were visited by passengers from the now quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship, are advised to take precautionary measures amid concerns that some of the cruise line visitors may have contracted the novel coronavirus virus.

According to Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Friday, a preliminary investigation has identified the locations the passengers had visited, when the cruise ship docked at Keelung Port on a 10-hour stopover.

The places the passengers visited include the Taipei 101 skyscraper, Jiufen and Shifen towns in New Taipei City, as well as Ximending District in Taipei.

The ship, carrying 2,666 passengers and 1,045 crew members, has been quarantined off the coast of Yokohama, Japan, since it returned to port there on Monday.    [FULL  STORY]

DEALING WITH CHINA:A surgeon launched a petition to have Taipei determine passenger lists for charter flights, with those in urgent need of care to get priority

Taipei Times
Date:  Feb 08, 2020
By: Wu Liang-yi  /  Staff reporter

1Taiwan is to prioritize vulnerable people and adhere to the highest level of quarantine measures

when evacuating Taiwanese from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the 2019 novel 1coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday.

Tsai was responding to questions about a charter flight that arrived from Wuhan on Monday, on which three of the 247 passengers had not been on a priority list the government provided to Chinese authorities.

The issue escalated when one of the three passengers tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the nation’s 11th case.

The government had communicated with Chinese authorities on the guidelines for the flight and its priorities, but they unilaterally changed the passenger list after agreeing to Taipei’s terms, Tsai said on a visit to the Centers for Disease Control in Taipei    [FULL STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 06 February, 2020
By: Paula Chao

Public anxiety over the new coronavirus is high with people hoarding face masks. Tune in to find out how effective masks really are and their history in Taiwan. Deutsche Welle Correspondent William Yang also offers insight into the real situation in Wuhan and how China is suppressing online discussion of the virus.
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[FULL  STORY]

 

Despite being excluded from the World Health Organization, Taiwan has moved quickly to adopt measures to curb the domestic spread of the coronavirus.

The News Lens
Date: 2020/02/06
By: James X. Morris

Lunar New Year has come to an end, but fears of the spread of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) have not. For Taiwan’s health officials, excluded from the World Health Organization, the task is unenviable. 

As China continues to bear the brunt of the outbreak, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control has been monitoring the situation to prevent a possible domestic spread of the virus.

On Wednesday the CDC confirmed the 11th case of the coronavirus, when an evacuee onboard a special flight carrying over 200 Taiwanese out of Wuhan was diagnosed after landing.

The virus itself was first detected in China in December, but several weeks elapsed before the public was made aware, setting off the current global paranoia.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan government wants to import drug that is candidate for cure to Wuhan coronavirus

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/06
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Centers of Disease Control (CDC) said Thursday (Feb. 6) the country is actively seeking to import remdesivir, an experimental drug believed to have the potential to cure the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

During a press conference, Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said remdesivir will not be given to coronavirus patients in Taiwan unless its effectiveness has been supported by scientific research. He then went on to say the Taiwanese government has filed a request to the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, developer of the antiviral drug, to leave a supply for Taiwan, reported Liberty Times.

According to Initium Media, an infusion of remdesivir was given to the first confirmed 2019-nCoV case in the U.S., who showed great progress just four days after treatment. Though it has not yet been confirmed that remdesivir can help patients outside of the lab, international experts are hoping the antiviral drug can help contain the deadly virus.

Originally developed by Gilead Sciences as a treatment for Ebola, remdesivir has the ability to block protein activities that help the coronavirus create copies of itself. Pre-clinical testing in animal models from the past showed that remdesivir was effective against both Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).    [FULL  STORY]