China objects

China objects

This is in response to the letter Taiwan and global health
published in The Jakarta Post on March 29, 2003. The article made
use of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) as a pretext to
criticize the Chinese government, and to advocate Taiwan's entry
into the World Health Organization (WHO), whose membership is
strictly confined to sovereign states. I wish to present our
views and clarification on this matter.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to SARS.
After the outbreak of the epidemic, the Chinese government
implemented effective measures to protect the health and lives of
the people. As a result, the epidemic is under control. The
number of new infections has dropped dramatically, the number of
patients recovering has increased and the rate of deaths has
decreased substantially.

So far, there is no detection of infective cases of SARS in
most parts of China. The Chinese people are living and working in
a normal manner. It is therefore safe to work, travel and do
business in China.

There is excellent cooperation between China and WHO. The two
sides have accumulated rich experience in the prevention and
control of infectious diseases. Following the outbreak of SARS,
WHO dispatched experts to China on three separate occasions at
the invitation of the Chinese government to discuss and explore
measures to control the spread of SARS with Chinese experts.

WHO experts spoke highly of what the Chinese government has
done in terms of prevention and treatment of SARS and the
cooperation with WHO. Chinese scientists are working hard to find
out the exact cause of SARS, as well as the methods to prevent
and treat it.

Blood is thicker than water. The Chinese people across the
Taiwan (Formosa) Straits are blood brothers. There is no such
question as to a lack of access for Taiwan to the information on
the prevention and treatment of SARS on the mainland.

The central government and people throughout mainland China
are very concerned about the health and the welfare of our
Taiwanese compatriots. There is very good communication in the
field of health across the straits. The exchanges of health
experts across the straits amounts to thousands of people each
year. The channel of information exchange is convenient and
smooth. We are sincerely ready to offer as much help as we can in
the prevention and treatment of the epidemic to meet the needs of
our Taiwanese compatriots.

MA JISHENG, Counselor for Political Affairs, Chinese Embassy,
Jakarta