‘Don’t Be Kidnapped By China’: Taiwan Tells WHO in Bid for Separate Virus Tally

Scramble to Track Cambodia Cruise Passengers After Coronavirus Case Reported

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia—Health authorities scrambled on Feb. 17 to track hundreds of passengers who disembarked from a cruise ship in Cambodia last week after a woman tested positive for coronavirus, heightening fears about the spread of the disease around the world. The new case raises questions about how companies and countries should handle monitoring and quarantine for people who may have been exposed to the new virus, since the American woman from the Westerdam cruise ship had passed the usually presumed incubation period of 14 days. Holland America Line, which is owned by cruise giant Carnival Corp., said it is working with governments and health experts to track passengers. “Guests who have already returned home will be contacted by their local health department and be provided further information,” the company said…

TAIPEI鈥擳aiwan urged the World Health Organization on Feb. 18 not to be “kidnapped” by China, as more countries put travel curbs on its citizens because the health agency groups the island’s coronavirus cases with China in the battle on the outbreak.

Taiwan has reported just 22 cases, but the self-ruled island shares the agency’s classification of China as “very high risk,” since the WHO considers Taiwan as part of China.

“Taiwan is not ruled by China and certainly should not be labeled as an infected area,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou told a news conference.

“We urge the WHO to be professional and neutral: Break away from China’s unreasonable claim. Don’t be kidnapped by China.”

Taipei is already in a war of words with Beijing over its exclusion from the WHO, because of objections by China, which considers Taiwan its own territory and has blocked the island’s membership in many international bodies.

Democratically governed Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of China鈥攊ts formal name鈥攁nd has never been part of the Chinese communist regime.

Countries including El Salvador, Mongolia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have adopted travel curbs for arrivals who have visited Taiwan, while the island’s largest airline is covered by an Italian ban on flights from China.

Ou said Taiwan continued to press Italy to resume flights, adding that the WHO should immediately correct its “inappropriate label” for the island.

Taiwan has scrambled diplomats around the world to ensure no more flights are cut off because of the WHO classification.

In a rare diplomatic success, Taiwan managed to get Vietnam to lift a flight ban this month. Last week, the Philippines lifted a travel ban on visitors from Taiwan imposed to rein in the spread of the virus.

聽By Yimou Lee

This article is from the Internet:‘Don’t Be Kidnapped By China’: Taiwan Tells WHO in Bid for Separate Virus Tally

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