A war of words erupted between Vice President Chen Chien-jen and China''s state-run news agency Xinhua. In a Facebook post, Chen accused Beijing''s leaders of failing to publicize vital information about the true state of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Xinhua hit back over the weekend, slamming Chen for being a rumormonger and a sham who was pretending to be an expert when he wasn''t. Then the Presidential Office entered the fray on Sunday, saying China''s angry outburst concealed its own incompetence. In a Facebook post, Vice President Chen cited Wikipedia as he pointed out Taiwan’s COVID-19 testings have been more extensive than South Korea’s. However, the source of the pandemic, China, still hasn’t made public important information concerning the epidemic, he said. Chen lamented Beijing’s regrettable lack of transparency. After this, China’s official mouthpiece Xinhua News Agency, published an article over the weekend, lambasting Chen for spreading rumors.Xinhua had some harsh words for Chen, slamming him, an epidemiologist and public health expert, for using figures from Wikipedia to diagnose a life-and-death medical problem. The article said Chen was wearing an expert’s clothing, but he’d turned his back on scientific prudence and was audaciously creating rumors. It was “ignoble behavior,” it said. But who exactly penned these harsh words? The author’s identity was nowhere to be found. The byline of the article was just a generic “Xinhua journalist.”Taiwan’s Presidential Office wasted no time in its response. In a statement, it said it is not difficult to see from such a tirade why the credibility of Chinese media has remained suspect and the transparency of the true state of the epidemic in China is questioned in the eyes of democratic countries. There’s a shared view amongst international public health circles and leading countries that these kinds of angry outbursts only underscore China’s own incompetence.Hsu Chih-ChiehDPP legislatorChina is pretending to be a victim when it’s actually the perpetrator. It’s singing the same tune as the WHO. China is the main culprit. How dare it criticize Vice President Chen Chien-jen, an expert who fought SARS, calling him a rumormonger. It’s shameless!DPP lawmakers are now up in arms and hitting back at China. They are demanding that it takes care of its own affairs before it lashes out at anyone else.

• published: 23 Mar 2020
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