Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Viral Outbreak: US senators call for WHO observer status

Taipei Times

The WHO logo is pictured in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday.
Photo: Reuters

US Senator Cory Gardner and six other Republican senators on Friday urged WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to grant Taiwan “observer” status in the global agency’s fight against the spread of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

Fighting the demon within

Taipei Times Editorial

The Chinese government learned a lot from SARS: That was the message that Beijing and the WHO have been trying to hammer home for the past few weeks, even as the WHO on Thursday declared the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak a global health emergency.

Instead, as we saw with SARS in 2002 to 2003, the contaminated milk scandal of 2008, avian flu outbreaks and the outbreak of African swine fever in August 2018, to name but a few crises, the instinctive response of local governments and Beijing has been denial, obfuscation and the harassment or arrest of whistle-blowers, followed by downplaying the problem, and repeated pronouncements that everything is under control and will soon be over.

Virus Fears: Canada and Japan endorse WHO bid

Taipei Times

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday.
Photo: Reuters

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday thanked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for their support of Taiwan’s bid to join the WHO as the number of confirmed 2019 novel coronavirus cases in the nation increased to nine.

Cabinet urges Beijing to allow evacuation of Wuhan

Taipei Times

Premier Su Tseng-chang talks to reporters at the Central Epidemic Control Center in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: CNA

The Executive Yuan yesterday urged Beijing to accept the nation’s request to evacuate about 300 Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan, China, after the city was locked down because of a coronavirus outbreak.

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