Tsai protests against comments by WHO head

Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday said the country needed to put a large amount of effort into the fight agaist the coronavirus epidemic.

Tsai spoke after inspecting a tank drill in Tainan where she also praised the country's armed forces for "not lacking vigilance".

Shortly after Tsai inspected the drill she posted strong comments on her Facebook page in response accusations made by the World Health Organisation's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday.

Tedros accused Taiwan's foreign ministry of being linked to a months-long campaign against him and said that since the emergence of the new coronavirus he has been personally attacked, including receiving at times, death threats and racist abuse.

Tsai said in her Facebook comments that Taiwan had been excluded from international organisations, and Taiwanese people know better than anyone else what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated.

Tsai added she wanted Terdros to visit Taiwan to see its efforts on fighting COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death