Published 19:34 IST, February 29th 2020
Taiwan claims China waging cyber 'war' against to disrupt fight against Coronavirus
Joseph Wu on Saturday accused China of reportedly waging a cyber 'war' on Taiwan in order to disrupt its fight against the deadly coronavirus.
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Joseph Wu, Taiwan's foreign minister, on Saturday accused China of reportedly waging a cyber 'war' on Taiwan in order to disrupt its fight against the Coronavirus. The minister has accused Beijing of using fake news to spread disinformation on the island that China claims as its own.
Battle against the spread of Fake News
According to reports, the recent Coronavirus outbreak has put pressure on already strained ties between Taipei and Beijing. Recently Beijing had blocked Taiwan's attempts at participating at the World Health Organisation (WHO) which has further deteriorated ties between the two nations.
As per reports, China sees Taiwan just as one of its provinces and believes that it does not have the right to join the WHO as an independent member. Taiwan has also called China 'vile' for not allowing the dissemination of real-time information about the virus from the WHO to Taiwan. China claims that Taiwan receives all the information that it requires.
#PRC officials say they care about our health as if we're blood relatives. But while #Taiwan is dealing with #COVID19 originating from #Wuhan, their cyber warriors are waging war to disrupt our efforts. So this is epidemic fighting with Chinese characteristics. I'm speechless. JW pic.twitter.com/mOsZMNpEOe
— 外交部 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan) 🇹🇼 (@MOFA_Taiwan) February 29, 2020
According to reports, the fake news that China has tried to spread include things like claims that Taiwan is hiding the true number of infected people on the island and that it is much more than the official figure and that the members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party have received a priority on face masks. The Taiwanese government was quick to refute these claims made by what they say is fake news.
Taiwan has reportedly announced that it will punish those that spread fake information and has previously also claimed that China intentionally uses fake news in an attempt to undermine Tawan's democracy. On February 29, Taiwan reported five new Coronavirus cases bringing the total number of infected on the island to 39.
(With Agency Inputs)
19:34 IST, February 29th 2020