Mask rules excessive
In the wake of recent attacks on convenience store clerks who asked customers to wear masks, I totally agree with your editorial in the Taipei Times on Nov. 23 (page 8).
You wrote: “The incidents hint at a growing frustration with mask mandates that many view as no longer necessary” and “The [Central Epidemic Command Center] CECC could consider adjusting its rules further to ease mask fatigue.”
I believe the CECC should carry some of the blame for these attacks, for not lifting the mask mandate, when it is so obvious that the virus has been under control domestically for a few months. Especially having to wear a mask outdoors makes no sense whatsoever.
Taiwanese are mostly law abiding and most do not mind wearing a mask, but I wonder how much longer the government will bully the people with ridiculous rules.
In most other countries, when it becomes clear that the virus is under control, the governments try and lift restrictions to help and get life for its citizens back to normal, and also get the economy going again. Not in Taiwan.
Last year, after having no domestic cases for more than eight months, rather than lift some mask rules, the CECC imposed even more rules in December, including the laughable rule that you must wear a mask to the swimming pool and only take it off as you enter the water.
I have no doubt that if someone should ask questions about the silly mask rules, the CECC at its daily news conference would say that everyone has to be careful as there might still be some carriers out there.
Surely that is no way to live your life, in fear of what might happen. If so, we should all stay home and not go to work, because we might get in a traffic accident on the way there.
I think it is high time the CECC listens to your suggestion, follows the science and lifts unnecessary restrictions.
It seems the CECC conveniently forgot that last year during the first outbreak in Taiwan, the virus was brought under control without making masks mandatory. It was only required on public transport. Masks were not mandatory in buildings and certainly not outdoors.
Anti-mask,
Taipei
Russian President Vladimir Putin is an expert at bluffing and keeping the West on its toes, pushing relations to the edge before pivoting without warning. However, hemmed in and fuming, he is deadly serious about being heard on Ukraine. Those close to the Kremlin said that the Russian president does not want to start another war in Ukraine. Still, he must show he is ready to fight if necessary in order to stop what he sees as an existential security threat: the creeping expansion of the NATO in a country that for centuries had been part of Russia. After years of disillusionment
At a time when China continues its assertive policy toward its neighboring countries, the regime of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bhutan last month to resolve a longstanding border dispute. However, this is not the first time China and Bhutan have taken such efforts on this issue. Over the years, China has expanded its claim over territory in Bhutan. China claims over 764km2 of Bhutan’s territory, which includes Doklam, Sinchulung, Dramana and Shakhatoe in the northwestern region and the Pasamlung and Jakarlung Valleys in the central part of Bhutan. Although the two sides held
Among the voices expressing concern for Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai (彭帥) over the past two weeks, one was barely audible — that of her long-time former doubles partner Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇). Following their defeat in the WTA Finals championship match in Mexico on Nov. 18, Taiwan’s Hsieh and her Belgian partner Elise Mertens fielded questions via a Zoom call. Chinese state media had just released an incredibly suspicious e-mail, purportedly from Peng, and Canadian tennis Web site Open Court broached the issue. With the entire tennis world chiming in, seeking Hsieh’s opinion seemed obvious. However, the Web site’s reporter prefaced her question
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) sixth plenary session has ended and from all appearances, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has set the stage to rule for the rest of his life. Some might be tempted to declare that this calls for Xi to do a victory lap, but all is not well on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. To parody a line from Ya Got Trouble, a song from Broadway musical The Music Man: “There’s trouble in River City, (aka, Beijing). Trouble with a capital T, which rhymes with C for CCP.” Why? Taking control of a nation is always much
RSS