TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) head Victor Wang (王必勝) on Thursday (March 30) rebuffed former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) claim that China's alleged early control of the COVID outbreak in Wuhan was a "contribution to humanity," and defended his center's response to the pandemic.
On Wednesday (March 29), Ma paid a visit to a museum in Wuhan extolling the virtues of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) handling of the COVID outbreak. When he came upon an exhibit titled "Taiwan Compatriots Assisting Epidemic Prevention Zone," the guide claimed that some Taiwanese in Wuhan at the start of the outbreak were stranded because they had been traveling as tourists and wanted to leave Hubei and Wuhan as soon as possible.
After the first batch of Taiwanese returned to their hometowns, the guide alleged that the Chinese government originally planned to send the rest of the "Taiwanese compatriots" back to Taiwan on Feb. 5 and 6. However, the guide purported that the remaining flights were "blocked by Democratic Progressive Party authorities, making it difficult for Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan to return home."
The guide claimed that it was only after continuous efforts by the Chinese government that all Taiwanese were sent back to their hometowns by April 21. After listening to the guide's story, Ma turned to Zhang Dingyu (張定宇), the head of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, which was one of the first hospitals to deal with the disease, and said, "I'm sorry that our government has caused you trouble."
In addition, Ma said that under the leadership of Zhang, the epidemic was initially controlled to prevent it from expanding significantly. "We admire this very much. This was not just for Mainland China, but rather was a contribution to humanity as a whole," Ma said.
When asked to comment on Ma's remarks in Wuhan during a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Wang said "From his own (Ma's) perspective as a Chinese, since it is a Chinese point of view, we respect him." However, regarding China's alleged contributions, he bluntly said, "What exactly was their contribution? This pandemic started in Wuhan, China, and spread to the whole world, causing 700 million people to be infected and more than seven million people to die. Of course, we know that the number is greatly underestimated."
Wang went on to say, "I don't understand what contribution (was made), but what I do know is that this was a catastrophe for humanity."
Regarding potential future exchanges with counterparts in China, Wang said that future medical and health exchanges and professional exchanges between the two sides of the strait are very much anticipated and welcome. Wang then asked, "But is it not possible to start by replying to our emails?"
Wang added that it would be "very kind and polite" if his Chinese counterparts would respond to the CECC's emails. He closed by saying that if there is reciprocity in terms of email communication, "we will move forward step by step from there."