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I think WSJ mischaracterizes what happened. Taiwan CDC sent a question to the WHO through IHR channels: "We asked them whether there& #39;s a possibility of human-to-human transmission."
(I say "think" because I can& #39;t access the full article) https://twitter.com/Dalzell60/status/1247158114576711680">https://twitter.com/Dalzell60...
(I say "think" because I can& #39;t access the full article) https://twitter.com/Dalzell60/status/1247158114576711680">https://twitter.com/Dalzell60...
The Taiwan CDC notes on 12/31 that it sent a message to the WHO. At that point, it said there were "not yet *obvious* cases human-to-human transmission" (尚未發現明顯人傳人現象): https://www.cdc.gov.tw/Bulletin/Detail/zicpvVlBKj-UVeZ5yWBrLQ?typeid=9">https://www.cdc.gov.tw/Bulletin/...
Nothing was conclusive on 12/29. Questions from Taiwan& #39;s CDC seem to be drawn from whistleblowers that Wuhan doctors were getting sick. The warning was meant as just that--for WHO specialists with on-the-ground access to be on the lookout for human-to-human transmission.
(FWIW, Taiwan CDC also asked for information on the virus and didn& #39;t receive it, which says a lot about Taiwan& #39;s exclusion from the WHO)
The question Taiwan sent up to the WHO was largely ignored. It wasn& #39;t worth bringing up until it was clear that people-to-people transmission was happening--and that China & the WHO boggled the response and there was an outbreak.
WHO denied 人-人 on 1/12. China confirmed 1/20.
WHO denied 人-人 on 1/12. China confirmed 1/20.
Nonetheless, 12/31 was also 11 days before the election. Let& #39;s think how the propaganda machine in China would have used this against the DPP if the TW government came out publicly with its question--again, at that point 人-人 was inconclusive-- rather than deferring to the WHO.
We can see that here. This article notes that--once Taiwan& #39;s warning were brought to light--MFA Spokesman Geng Shuang called them efforts to "politically manipulate" the outbreak: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2020-03-24/taiwan-says-who-ignored-its-coronavirus-questions-at-start-of-outbreak">https://www.usnews.com/news/worl...
Finally, this also completely ignores the power dynamics at play: Taiwan has limited official access to both (1) what is supposed to be the world& #39;s authority on global health and (2) the source-country of the outbreak.
