It has been determined that the severe acute respiratory
syndrome (SARS) epidemic, which poses a grave international
health risk, originated in China. Only days ago, the World
Health Organization (WHO) had declared that China was the center
of this global epidemic. Moreover, all major media organizations
worldwide uniformly criticized China for concealing the outbreak
of the epidemic. At the same time, the government has begun to
actively take measures to control the illness here in Taiwan.
But as a result of political conservatism, the relevant
government agencies hesitated in taking the necessary measures,
leaving the general public vulnerable. The government's decision
respecting the "small three links" between Kinmen and China was
a classical example of this conservatism. The "small three
links" were a naive and unilateral measure taken by the
government. After the implementation of the links, China
responded with passive resistance. As a result, the "links" are
in fact a one-way connection, which skew th