Omicron surge in Taiwan ‘ result of DDP’s political manipulation’
A relaxed quarantine policy, low vaccination rate and political manipulation over the anti- epidemic work have contributed to the surge of Omicron cases in Taiwan as the island saw more than 60,000 daily COVID- 19 cases for the fourth straight day in the latest wave.
On Sunday, the island of Taiwan announced 68,769 new confirmed cases of COVID- 19, of which 68,732 were local ones and 37 imported. The island announced 19 deaths on the day.
From January 1 to May 14, a total of 672,998 cases have been registered in Taiwan, an island with a population of about 23 million.
Taiwan announced on Tuesday it was cutting to seven days from 10 days the mandatory quarantine for all arrivals, marking its latest relaxation of the rules to try to live with COVID- 19 even as the number of infections spiked.
The DPP authorities, despite being mired in the chaos of the anti- Omicron situation, focused on political theatrics as they expressed gratitude to US President Joe Biden, who signed on Friday a bill into law to help Taiwan “regain observer status” at the WHA.
Taiwan island has also been invited to attend the Global COVID- 19 Summit on Thursday.
Chinese mainland observers slammed Biden’s invitation to the island as being a challenge to the one- China principle and the DPP authorities in the island should feel ashamed of serving as Biden’s chess piece.
DPP authorities have been using the epidemic as a political tool to boast its anti- epidemic performance, while suppressing the opposition and deteriorating cross- Straits ties so as to inch closer to the US, said Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University.
If the DPP authorities continue their sloth- like epidemic prevention and control measures and even relax the previous measures, while putting the issue under political manipulation and following the US – a country just witnessed 1 million COVID- 19 deaths – the island will suffer from an unprecedented epidemic shock and more people in the island will be victims, Xin warned.