President Tsai Ing-wen is calling on China to disclose information about an ongoing coronavirus outbreak in a transparent manner.
The outbreak is centered on the Chinese city of Wuhan, but has since spread across China and beyond. At least nine have died.
During a national security meeting Wednesday, Tsai said that China should act responsibly and share accurate information with Taiwan.
"[Transparency] also benefits Chinese people. We believe that political considerations shouldn’t be placed before the protection of human life. Taiwan is part of the world. Its 23 million people could face health risks at any time, and at any moment, Taiwan may find itself on the front lines, preventing disease just like any other part of the world. I want to urge the WHO again that it shouldn’t exclude Taiwan due to political factors. Taiwan is on the front lines of global epidemic prevention and the WHO must have room for Taiwan to take part," said Tsai.
Tsai also urged the public to remain calm. She said there is no need to panic, because the government has experience in dealing with disease outbreak because of the SARS outbreak of 2003.