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Ho Ching (wife of Singapore’s PM Lee Hsien Loong and CEO of Temasek Holdings) loves sharing links on her Facebook page. Now her ‘Errrr …’ comment on news of Taiwan donating face masks to Singapore has created great consternation among Taiwan’s netizens. https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/3131038
Apparently some pro-PRC groups have been blaming Taiwan’s mask export ban (enacted when it was still a net importer) for shortages in Singapore, because LT feels it necessary to explain that Temasek’s ST Eng moved its production back to SG in February. https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/3131107
Taiwan’s MFA replies that Singapore is an important international friend, explains that SG repatriated production after the mask ban, calls on Taiwanese netizens to cherish the hard-to-obtain friendship. TW and SG say they are still discussing donation. https://udn.com/news/story/6656/4486399
Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs response to Ho Ching uproar: Policies to be based on official statements and not based on individual statements – The Online Citizen https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2020/04/12/taiwan-foreign-affairs-policies-to-be-based-on-official-statements-and-not-based-on-individual-statements/
What is probably a contributing factor in the Ho Ching uproar is that The Global Times had been trying to discredit Taiwan’s mask donation to Singapore by bringing up the mask export ban again, as Taiwan wasn’t still a net importer at the time. https://www.facebook.com/lim.jialiang/posts/10158614138996844
Singapore’s Speaker of Parliament seems to believe the anti-Taiwan misinformation out there: https://twitter.com/chuanjin1/status/1249528127937581056?s=21 https://twitter.com/chuanjin1/status/1249528127937581056
Leading story on pro-KMT paper-of-record UDN is an editorial on Ho Ching uproar asking whether Taiwan actually cares about its friendship with Singapore, blaming Tsai Ing-wen’s decision to ban face masks exports and the DPP’s indulgence of online trolls. https://udn.com/news/story/11091/4487812
Prominent foreign policy DPP legislator Wang Ting-yu counters rumours on the ST Engineering face mask production lines, says he hopes reasonable voices in Singapore will arise and that people close to the CCP won’t create trouble for the relationship. https://www.facebook.com/wdy19690305/photos/a.10151394139491950/10158233937891950/
Apple Daily TW reports that Ho Ching has updated the original Facebook post with explanations and thanks to Taiwan. https://tw.appledaily.com/international/20200413/RZZGBIJNBV7LKAKJU7MZLHSTRI/ But her FB page remains a mess, full of angry Taiwan comments who seem to think she believes the fake news about mask production.
