Taipei Times
Date: Mar 13, 2020
By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA

The WHO should clarify whether China underplayed the severity of COVID-19, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) chairman, Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), said yesterday, adding that Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO is vital to prevent loopholes through which the virus could spread.

Chiang made the remarks after leading KMT members in presenting their respect to Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) at the National Sun Sat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on the 95th anniversary of his death.

WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus on Wednesday told reporters that the agency now considered the COVID-19 outbreak to be a pandemic, the same day that US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien suggested that China had understated the severity of its initial COVID-19 cases, delaying an effective global response by two months.

As Taiwan is not a WHO member, and cannot attend the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting, it would be impossible for Taiwan to know if China underplayed the severity of COVID-19 if the WHO could not, Chiang said.    [FULL  STORY]