The novel coronavirus (or as some netizens love to say, the Wuhan virus) pneumonia epidemic has made everyone nervous. The Democratic Progressive Party government first bungled getting a bunch of Taiwan businesspeople stuck in Hubei Province unable to return… Then recently issued another order requiring medical and social workers to be prohibited from traveling abroad…
This started a big fuss…
Later the Taipei Medical Association put together three main issues (including questioning why the union is fixated on legal basis, why the ban would undermine morale, and why the government promised full compensation yet the union is still upset).
⚖️ Core Issue: Executive Power Cannot Narrow Constitutional Freedoms
Actually all these issues are quite simple and can be condensed into one:
Because under constitutional protection of freedom, the government cannot use executive power to narrow the rights that Republic of China citizens should have. Especially currently the epidemic is concentrated in Taiwan island of the Republic of China, and hasn’t yet reached a hundred cases…
The government can’t start limiting people’s rights because of baseless speculation…
Unless the Democratic Progressive Party government, first declare the domestic epidemic has reached emergency status!
🌍 Ignoring the Hardship of Outer Islands and Remote Regions
Setting aside Kinmen and Matsu islands where currently there aren’t even any cases, why can’t medical workers in these places travel abroad either… Actually even in Taiwan island’s remote regions, local medical workers were already quite stressed, now being locked in their regions by an executive order, can this administrative team enjoying the perks of Taipei and dentists understand?
💡 What government should do is first make moral appeals and propose compensation measures, letting non-emergency epidemic zone medical workers freely choose to stand on the front line.
Now it becomes first slap then gauge reaction before giving candy, that’s what authoritarians and communists would do.