As soon as Taiwan’s latest COVID-19 outbreak started heating up, it became clear that the nation was still not fully prepared, and that there was no really consistent nationwide policy in place, be it the criteria for suspending classes or whether and how people should be isolated after coming into contact with confirmed cases.
If policies are unclear, people would take their own view of the situation and do as they see fit. In that case, the number of cases would grow even faster.
The current international situation suggests that living with the virus is necessary and inevitable. While, the government does not dare to head in that direction, it is at the same time allowing companies and schools to do whatever the people in charge of them decide. This confusing approach is making the public feel even more fearful.
What people are seeing in the news is that government employees must be isolated from their coworkers if they come into contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases at gatherings or meetings. However, what happens when confirmed cases are discovered in private companies? How many private firms are really implementing the policy that people who had come into contact with COVID-19 cases should be isolated?
Perhaps the government, out of consideration for the public’s livelihood and the economy, does not dare to arbitrarily impose strict rules on close contacts, but if the situation goes on like this, the chain of transmission will never be broken and the whole population will end up getting infected.
The present gap in awareness between government and private companies would only make people more confused about what to do.
The quickly rising number of confirmed cases is having a wider impact, so the government must clearly say whether it will adopt a policy of continued restrictions or relative relaxation.
In the current confused situation, there is already a tacit acceptance that Taiwan is on the way to coexisting with the virus. If it is true that most people who catch COVID-19 now have mild symptoms, it probably means that people are already coexisting with the virus. If so, the government should set an orientation and let the public understand what consequences might follow after such a policy is announced, instead of there being one set of standards from the central government, and another from private companies and communities.
Fear and panic will only pervade society. Only by acting in unison can the nation get through the present difficulties and move forward.
Nancy Chan is a customer service representative.
Translated by Julian Clegg
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not