The threat posed by Taiwan’s much larger neighbor, China, is compounded by the coronavirus, arriving with travelers in a connected cross-straits economy.
The playgrounds are full. People linger in cafes for hours. Many are not wearing surgical masks.
Desperate to keep the virus at bay, Taiwanese officials are severely restricting travel from China and have barred mainland Chinese visitors. School holidays have been extended to the end of the month. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has a mandate to push back against China after having been reelected Jan. 11 in a landslide against Kuomintang party candidate Han Kuo-yu. The president’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party does not support China’s precondition for negotiations — that Taiwan acknowledge there is only one China.
For Taiwanese already wary of China, the coronavirus outbreak and the Chinese government’s handling of it strengthen their desire to maintain a distance from the mainland.“From African swine fever to the Wuhan virus, we actually have no faith in China’s ability to control outbreaks,” said DPP legislator Lee Chun-yi, referring to a disease that devastated China’s pigs last year.
“If the Tsai Ing-wen government’s reaction is not too far over the top, then I can accept that,” said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of the international affairs college at National Chengchi University in Taipei, who was a policy advisor for the Han campaign.Political talk show “Situation Room” host Jaw Shaw-kong displayed posters featuring Premier Su Tseng-chang early in the outbreak., with 45 million on hand. He urged people to wash their hands and wear masks.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Malaysia expands China traveller ban as coronavirus spreadsMalaysia has expanded a ban on visitors from China to include Zhejiang and Jiang...
Read more »
‘I’m So Sorry’: Coronavirus Survivor’s Cross-China Travel Left Dozens QuarantinedMore than 40 people were quarantined after a 32-year-old architect who passed through Wuhan fell sick. Exactly when and where he picked up the virus is unclear.
Read more »
China to stagger back to work as coronavirus deaths surpass SARSChina raised the death toll from the coronavirus epidemic to 811 on Sunday, pass...
Read more »
Coronavirus death toll in China surpasses SARS but new cases fallNew virus that is of the same family of coronavirus as SARS, proves far less deadly, killing around 2-3 percent of those infected, Chinese authorities say. SARS killed 9.6 percent of those who caught it, according to the World Health Organization.
Read more »
China scrambles to keep cities in virus lockdown fedBEIJING (AP) — The manager of the Wushang Mart in Wuhan, the locked-down city at the heart of China’s virus outbreak, says its shelves are loaded with 50% more vegetables and other food than usual...
Read more »
China allocates $10.26 billion to fight coronavirusChina&39;s finance ministry said on Sunday all levels of government had allocated a total of 71.85 billion yuan ($10.26 billion) as of Saturday afternoon to fight coronavirus. The funds will also be used to ensure that efforts of every region to fight the virus are not hampered by financial constraints
Read more »