With Tsai Ing-wen’s Gambit, Chen Shih-chung Immediately Fell Off the Pedestal

With Tsai Ing-wen’s Gambit, Chen Shih-chung Immediately Fell Off the Pedestal

United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan)

June 15, 2020

 Translation of an Excerpt

Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung, who has been enjoying the halo as the head of the Epidemic Command Center, was pushed off the pedestal by President Tsai out of the blue! The National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA), under the Health and Welfare Ministry, has set a ceiling for the price differential of medical devices between the part chargeable to the NHIA and the part paid by the patients, eliciting a strong backlash from the medical circles for days. Chen Shih-chung didn't take it seriously at first, saying that the reform would be implemented as scheduled in August. Who knew Tsai Ing-wen expressed different opinions on her Facebook page. Chen Shih-chung had no choice but to hold an emergency meeting with the medical circles. In the end, the result of the communication was a policy halt, and Chen Shih-chung even changed his tune, explaining “I didn’t say that it had to be done after all.”

Policy communication, unlike briefings on pandemic situations, could only follow the head of the Epidemic Command Center. Ironically, the whole country is following “Chen Shi-chung”, while Chen Shih-chung, nevertheless, is “following Tsai Ing-wen”. Does anyone care about professionalism? Nowadays, Tsai Ing-wen grasps both the party and the government, and monopolizes the five constitutional powers, while power expansion is unchecked. In this price war of medical equipment and devices, Tsai Ing-wen intruded into the territories of Su Tseng-chang and Chen Shih-chung, even publicly slapping them in their faces. Perhaps some might praise Tsai Ing-wen for "airing the grievances of the physicians on their behalf", but who is going to ask about the system being trampled upon?

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