April 1, 2020

TAIWAN: Taiwan Helps Defeat Coronavirus With Donation Of 10 MILLION Masks. Taiwan Premier Says Coronavirus Should Be Called 'Wuhan Pneumonia' Since That Was Its Factual Origin.

Taiwan News
written by Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Wednesday April 1, 2020

President announces masks will go to worst-hit countries, in addition to providing drugs and know how.

TAIPEI — The Taiwan government has announced it is willing to donate 10 million medical masks to the countries hit hardest by the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

Taiwan has scrambled to assemble 90 production lines since late January and can now churn out 13 million masks per day. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) even set a new daily production target of 20 million units on Monday (March 30).

Meanwhile, the adult-size mask ration is slated to increase to nine every two weeks from April 9. This is because production of surgical masks is gradually catching up with demand.

Though Taiwan appears to be curbing the spread of COVID-19, the pandemic continues to worsen worldwide and many countries face a severe shortage of life-saving medical supplies. This caused Javier Marion, the director of health in the Aragon region of Spain, to break down in tears during a recent news conference.

At a press conference on Wednesday (April 1), President Tsai said the island country is collaborating with the United States and Czech Republic to combat the virus. It also has a partnership deal with the U.S. and Australia for medical supplies and equipment.

"Taiwan can hardly be left unharmed by the global pandemic, so we should collaborate with other countries in fighting the virus," Tsai said. "We can't sit by and watch, we will provide masks, drugs, and knowhow to countries in need."

Tsai then announced a plan to give out 10 million masks for free as humanitarian aid to medical workers and people working on the frontline in countries most affected by the virus. In addition to the mask donation, the government will also provide much-needed drugs and share how to utilize big data to effectively track people that a confirmed case has close contact with.

"Taiwan has become the second-largest mask manufacturer with a daily production capacity exceeding 10 million units, and the growth momentum continues," Tsai said. "Today, Taiwan not only can help but is helping."

Speaking in English, Tsai continued: "Over the past months, we've seen countless acts of bravery and sacrifices from medical workers around the world. It's our duty as well as the global system to give them our full support."

"We need to step up cooperation and that means sharing experiences and materials and working together to develop treatments and vaccines. Pandemics cannot be stopped by one country alone, and Taiwan stands ready to do our part."

"We will donate surplus masks and other supplies to our allies and countries hit hardest by COVID-19. These supplies will go to medical workers and people working on the frontline to save lives."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) issued a statement after Tsai’s speech explaining where the free masks will go. The agency said that 1 million masks will go to the country’s diplomatic allies, and 2 million masks will be distributed to U.S. medical workers, in addition to the existing 100,000 masks per week under a US-Taiwan partnership agreement.

The remaining 7 million masks, MOFA said, will go to the worst-affected European Union member countries, including Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, and Poland.

As of Wednesday (April 1), Taiwan has recorded 329 cases of COVID-19, including five deaths.

Formosa TV English News published April 1, 2020: Taiwan to donate 10 million masks to COVID-19 stricken countries
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) on Tuesday (March 31) announced 16 more cases of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), bringing the total to 322.

During a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Health Minister and CECC head Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) announced 16 new cases of COVID-19. Of the new cases, 14 were imported and two were domestic, bringing Taiwan's total to 322.

Chen said the two local cases were a man in his 70s (the 307th case) and a male in his 20s (the 322nd case), neither of whom had traveled abroad, but the 307th case attended a dinner party with the 122nd case, who had traveled to Turkey.
National Review
written by Mairead Mcardle
Wednesday April 1, 2020

Taiwan will donate ten million face masks to countries struggling with the coronavirus pandemic, a move that will likely rile China, which claims Taiwan as a territory and has donated far fewer masks to other countries despite its role in covering up the risk posed by a deadly virus that originated within its borders.

“At the previous stage, we formed a national team, now we need to play an international match and fight the pandemic together with other countries,” said Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen. “At this stage, we will donate 10 million masks.”

According to Taiwan’s foreign ministry, 7 million of the masks will be sent to European Union countries, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. Taipei also plans to send masks to the U.S.

Taiwan has done a remarkable job containing the spread of the virus, with only 322 confirmed cases of coronavirus and five deaths resulting from infection as of Tuesday.

China criticized an agreement between Taiwan and American Institute in Taipei on coronavirus cooperation, calling it “a political plot to pursue independence with the help of the epidemic.”

China shipped only two million masks to be distributed across Europe, while Jack Ma, China’s richest man, donated another two million.

“Today, we’re grateful for China’s support,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said of the mask shipments.

China also supplied rapid test coronavirus test kits to Spain and the Czech Republic, but the majority of the tests turned out to be faulty. Up to 80 percent of the 150,000 portable test kits China delivered to the Czech Republic earlier this month did not produce correct results. Spain, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus fatalities in the world after Italy, found that the rapid coronavirus test kits it purchased from Chinese company Bioeasy only correctly identified 30 percent of virus cases.

In December, local and national officials issued a gag order to labs in Wuhan after scientists there identified a new viral pneumonia, ordering them to halt tests, destroy samples, and conceal the news. A recent collaborative study by scientists based in both China and the U.S. found that 95 percent of infections could have been prevented had China implemented measures to stem the spread just three weeks earlier.

The U.S. intelligence community concluded in a classified report Wednesday that China deliberately provided incomplete public numbers for coronavirus cases and deaths resulting from the infection.
Taiwan News
written by Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Wednesday April 1, 2020

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — When asked for his take on communist China's insistence on not using the place name "Wuhan" when describing the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said the correct name is "Wuhan pneumonia" (武漢肺炎) since that was its factual origin.

During an interpellation session of the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday (March 31), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Yi-yu (蔡易餘) sought Su's opinion on communist China's policy of not allowing "Wuhan" to be used in descriptions of COVID-10 and other attempts to salvage its image amidst the global catastrophe. Su responded by saying the coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan, China, and therefore it should be called "Wuhan pneumonia," and that demanding the world to change the name shows that China lacks confidence in itself, reported Liberty Times.

Tsai said that China is seeking to whitewash its gross mismanagement of the coronavirus epidemic by claiming that terms such as "Wuhan coronavirus" and "Wuhan virus" are racist, while having World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom praise China's every move. Tsai pointed out that Tedros even lauded the communist country as having "bought the world time."

Su agreed with Tsai's assessment and said that it was a fact that the disease started in Wuhan, so the world has given it the name Wuhan pneumonia. He noted that many major infectious diseases take their names from their place of origin, such as German measles, Japanese encephalitis, and Hong Kong foot (Taiwanese Mandarin term for athlete's foot), but because China does not have any confidence in itself, it behaves in this way.

He then observed that China is now launching a media blitz to draw praise for the supposed containment of the outbreak within its borders. However, he said that such media manipulation could backfire if overdone.

Su said that Taiwan long ago learned not to trust China. Therefore, it was extremely cautious when the outbreak began because "we early on knew to be afraid."
Taiwan News
written by Staff
Tuesday March 31, 2020

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has said it would accept a decision by the Legislative Yuan to omit Taiwan’s country name, “Republic of China,” leaving only “Taiwan” on the cover of its passport.

According to the Constitution, the Republic of China is the official name of the country, MOFA Spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) stated on Monday (March 30). The current passport complies with International Civil Aviation Organization regulations that passports include official country names, she observed.

“In the future, if the legislature reaches a bipartisan consensus on the name change, the ministry will cooperate and proceed accordingly, the Liberty Times cited Ou as saying. She added that the ministry respects the ongoing discussion on the matter.

In fact, Taiwan’s passport has not always included “Republic of China” and “Taiwan” on the cover. It was not until September 2003 that the ministry added “Taiwan,” under “Republic of China” and the national emblem, after the proposal was accepted by different parties in the legislature.

The debate over removing “Republic of China” from the passport began several years ago. There have been a number of cases over the years in which Taiwanese passport holders were denied entry into foreign countries because immigration officers were not able to distinguish the “Republic of China” from the “People’s Republic of China” (China).

The issue reared its head again recently as the coronavirus (COVID-19) forced many countries to impose travel restrictions on China, where the outbreak first began late last year. According to the Passport Index, more than 80 countries currently provide visa exemptions to Taiwanese passport holders, while only 32 countries offer the same status to Chinese nationals.

The latest survey by the New Power Party’s (NPP) shows that 74.3 percent of Taiwanese agree that “Taiwan” alone should be adopted as the country name on passport covers. The idea has much more support among voters of independence-leaning parties such as the NPP and ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

DPP lawmaker Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) has also backed the idea. “Taiwan is Taiwan. The country should not be mixed up with China,” he said, urging the government to try to reach a general consensus on the issue.

Civil groups started a campaign in 2015 to distribute stickers printed with “Republic of Taiwan,” which Taiwanese could use to cover “Republic of China” on their passports. However, the authorities have not encouraged people to modify their passport covers on their own.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 3:32 PM

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