Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said plan to evacuate Taiwanese remaining in Hubei has been stalled by Chinese government excuses

Taiwan News
Date: 0020/02/16
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Negotiations for a second flight to evacuate stranded Taiwanese from Wuhan, China, epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, have been unfruitful, which Taiwan’s health minister blames on China's obstruction, CNA reported on Saturday (Feb. 15).

A group of relatives of the Taiwanese still stranded in China’s Hubei Province protested in front of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday, blaming the government for not being able to bring their loved ones home and hoping that the MAC would announce an evacuation plan before Monday, according to CNA.

Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said on Friday that the plan to evacuate remaining Taiwanese from Hubei via a second charter flight followed by quarantine had been in place for some time. However, the plan was stalled by the Chinese government after a variety of excuses, including a demand to follow the model of the first evacuation flight by using China Eastern Airlines instead of Taiwan's China Airlines as well as a demand to transport 890 Taiwanese over two days, the report said.

CNA quoted sources familiar with the situation as saying that right after the first evacuation flight on Feb. 3, Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency reported on a plan lacking Taiwan's consultation in which China Eastern would carry out a total of four flights from Feb. 4th to Feb. 5th, flying out 890 Taiwanese.    [FULL  STORY]