The Minister of Foreign Affairs apologized to the Japanese government last night over a Taiwanese doctor who went to Japan, despite having SARS symptoms.
"The minister Eugene Chien, (
Shih said the ministry would be in close contact with Tokyo's de facto embassy in Taiwan as well as the Department of Health in an attempt to minimize the damage triggered by the physician's visit to Japan.
Yesterday, the former director-general of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Chen Tzay-jinn (陳再晉) expressed anger at the doctor who works at Mackay Memorial Hospital after he traveled to Japan and returned with SARS symptoms.
"A person in the medical profession should not behave this way," Chen said.
"I have already issued a citation to the Taipei City Government's Bureau of Health yesterday, asking them to follow up on this case and see whether the doctor should be punished."
Chen, who stepped down from his CDC position yesterday, was one of the key officials handling the case.
Director-General of the Department of Health Chen Chien-jen (
The doctor tested positive for the coronavirus yesterday. He was traveling in Japan from May 8 to Tuesday. The hospital reported that the doctor said he had a fever on May 9, but thought it was a cold.
After he returned on Tuesday and found himself still unfit, he went back to the hospital on Wednesday and was listed as a probable case.
He flew back on Japan Asia Airways EG 217, and some passengers on the same flight have already been ordered to go through home quarantine.
The hospital pointed out that the doctor did not have any direct contact with SARS patients nor did he show any SARS symptoms before he left for Japan.
However, when he was on his late shift on May 4, there was a SARS patient in his duty area. But the hospital said that the doctor had no reason to be in contact with the patient. The hospital said it was because the doctor did not have any contact history with any SARS patients that he did not suspect himself of having SARS when the fever started.
"Otherwise he would definitely have sought help from a local Japanese hospital immediately," the hospital said. "He would not have risked his life and others' if he had known it were SARS."
Chen was not satisfied with the hospital's explanation.
"When you do wrong, you should say so. Do not try to escape responsibility," he said.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS