The World Health Organization should not exclude Taiwan from efforts to tackle the outbreak, writes David YL Lin of the Taipei Representative Office. David E Hanke says an anthropomorphic explanation of viruses can be dangerous. And Robert East warns about the potential effect on share prices
The Guardian
Date: 5 Feb 2020
The situation is a fresh reminder of the catastrophic Sars epidemic in 2002-03, at which time Taiwan suffered tremendous loss, unable to engage with the WHO directly, and was forced to rely on US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials to obtain vital information from the WHO. Let’s hope history does not repeat itself. As the coronavirus outbreak has been declared a global health emergency, we call on the WHO to recognise that Taiwan is not part of China. It is time for the WHO to include Taiwan and its 23 million people, and stop damaging efforts to tackle the coronavirus outbreak and harming global health. [FULL STORY]