The COVID-19 epidemic has entered the second half, and some countries and regions have begun to list the list of allowed entry areas. Although Taiwan claims to be a "model student of epidemic prevention", many countries have not included it in the unblocking, especially because they believe that they have "failed friendship" with Japan, but they have not entered Japan's first wave of unblocking list, and public opinion on the island was in an uproar.
According to Taiwan's China Times on the 2nd, the Greek government recently announced that it will open entry of tourists from 29 countries and regions on June 15, including Germany, Austria, Denmark , Norway and Switzerland. Taiwanese media noticed that Asia includes Japan, South Korea and mainland China, but not Taiwan. Taiwan's "Foreign Ministry" spokesman Ou Jiangan said on the 2nd that Taiwan was not included because Greece opened the area where it flew directly with Greece, and there was no direct flight between Taiwan and Greece. If Taiwanese people want to go, they must transfer, and the transfer areas are at high risk, so people are not advised to go.
However, New Zealand and Australia have not been included in Taiwan. The United Daily News also mentioned on the 2nd that Japan plans to implement the first wave of post-epidemic control loosening by the end of June, and Taipei officials in Japan originally analyzed that Taiwan is likely to be included in the first wave of open list. However, Japan initially decided to open the four places of , New Zealand, , Australia, Vietnam and Thailand, and Taiwan is not among the first wave of opening up. Chen Shizhong, commander of Taiwan's "Central Epidemic Command Center", said that Japan has its own considerations on border control, and the "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" and other relevant units are in contact with the Japanese side. The list has not been fully decided yet. Democratic Progressive Party Yilan County MP Xie Canhui said on the 2nd that Yilan County has established several sister cities with Japan. Japan now has this attitude towards Taiwan. "What other sister cities should both sides be? What kind of friends should they be?" He said bluntly, "When a dog is trampled by someone, we will still scream twice, but we are bullied but we don't even dare to say a word." United News Network said that Japan's decision has hit the DPP authorities, which believe that they have achieved remarkable results in epidemic prevention, and "Even Vietnam and Thailand are on the first wave list, is Taiwan even worse than them?" He Sishen, a special professor at the Japanese Department of Fu Jen University and director of the Japan and East Asian Research Center, wrote an article on the 2nd, "This is a big blow to the Tsai government, which attaches importance to relations with Japan and actively publicizes Taiwan's epidemic prevention achievements internationally and promotes epidemic prevention diplomacy." The article believes that when Japan reviews the first wave of opening-up targets, it is difficult to hide political considerations except based on the judgment of the epidemic. As for the mainland, the epidemic has been controlled long ago, but considering the increasing confrontation between the United States and the mainland, in order to take into account the US-Japan relations, the Japanese side believes that it is not advisable to rashly include the mainland as the first wave of opening-up targets; and in the case of cross-strait discord, including Taiwan will damage the friendly atmosphere between Japan and the mainland and be detrimental to Abe 's plan to revitalize the economy. The United Daily News published an editorial on the 2nd saying that in addition to ensuring epidemic prevention and security, diplomacy and economic and trade relations are also the main considerations. Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand are all members of the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement), and the epidemic is also well controlled. Thailand is included because many Japanese businesses invest locally, which has become a priority.
Taiwan media also questioned that the DPP authorities will only wait for others to open up Taiwan, and will delay the unblocking of its own. The main reason is that the authorities' control and subsidies are first-class, and there is no way to do anything about opening up and revitalizing it. According to the China Times on the 2nd, the Taiwan Epidemic Command Center's judgment criteria for the unblocking include four principles, namely local infection status, inspection capacity, information transparency and mutual benefit between the two parties. Currently, countries and regions around the world are divided into four categories: the first category includes New Zealand and Palau, which are areas with fewer possible cases. For these areas, autonomous health management is currently considered for these areas; the second category includes Vietnam and Brunei, where cases occur locally but the risk is low. In the future, only quarantine will be considered for 5 days. If the inspection is negative after the expiration of the days, it will be changed to autonomous health management; Japan, Australia and Thailand are listed as the third category and stricter quarantine measures will be adopted; the last category is other higher-risk areas.
"United Daily" commented on the 2nd that the DPP really cherishes the results of "zero confirmed cases" in 50 days, and is worried that once the lockdown is lifted, this result may be difficult to preserve. The problem is that the lockdown has seriously blocked the exchanges between personnel, economy and trade, tourism and cross-border study. "If we do not try to gradually unblock safe areas or areas, how much does Taiwan pay to maintain this absolutely zero confirmed case?"
Some media also called for the unblocking of the mainland. The China Times said that the mainland is a global manufacturing center, and the consumer market and purchasing power are the goals that all parties strive for. This time, it was performed in a moderate and moderate manner. It is no wonder that all parties have lifted the ban on the mainland. For example, Germany just flew a business charter flight to Tianjin on May 31, and another charter flight to Shanghai on June 3; Greece is the focus of the layout of the "Belt and Road" economic plan, so it also waved to the mainland this time; Japan did not dare to put it in the mainland on the first wave of lifting the ban list due to the United States, but it is understood that the second wave will be put in. In contrast, Taiwan is excluded from the list of lifting bans by all parties, and of course it is difficult to escape international political factors. The article said that without international economic activities, Taiwan will collapse. Tourism alone will definitely not save Taiwan’s economy. Whether from the control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic or the international economic market and political situation, Taiwan should not refuse to unblock the mainland. "Only through the thawing of cross-strait trade, countries around the world can accept Taiwan faster and carry out the economy in the post-epidemic era."
Source: Global Times
