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Posted on 04/27/2003 3:46:16 AM PDT by sarcasm

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan will close its borders to visitors from SARS-stricken China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada for two weeks, the government said on Sunday, as the island reported its first known victim of the virus.

Taiwan residents returning from these areas, which the World Health Organization has designated as being infected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, would be quarantined for 10 days to curb the spread of the disease, the government said.

The most drastic attempt yet to ward off a virus that has killed about 290 people worldwide, the move restricts travel between Taiwan and its largest trading partner, China. Hong Kong has already urged Taiwan to reconsider.

``Fighting the epidemic is like fighting a war. We face an invisible enemy,'' Premier Yu Shyi-kun told a news conference, calling for public support for the measures.

But analysts said the curbs could jeopardize Taiwan's economy, as most of its core high-tech industry -- contract suppliers for leading global firms -- has moved its factories to China to take advantage of low costs.

Curbing travel could delay the launch and certification of higher-yielding new products, analysts said.

``What worries me most is that such moves may postpone foreign orders for Taiwan products,'' said Kevin Lin, asset manager at Shinkong Investment Trust which manages US$580 million.

``But since most firms have already banned business travel to SARS-infected areas, the moves should not have a major impact.''

Yu said Taiwan would stop issuing visitor and residential visas to people from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada for two weeks. Citizens of these areas who hold multiple-entry Taiwan visas would also be denied entry, he said.

HONG KONG OBJECTS

The Hong Kong government said in a statement the ban had adverse implications and called on Taiwan to reconsider.

``Taiwan should consider lifting such measures in the interest of facilitating commercial, tourism and other exchanges between Hong Kong and Taiwan,'' a spokesman said.

The measures, which would take a day or two to implement, follow a SARS outbreak at the Taipei Municipal Ho Ping Hospital last week, which caused the number of probable SARS cases to spike to 55 from 33, and suspect cases to surge to 72 from 50.

The Department of Health said on Sunday a 56-year-old man in Taipei had died from SARS, the island's first known victim of the virus. He was infected by his brother, who is a resident of Amoy Gardens in Hong Kong, where at least 320 people were infected.

Besides straining medical resources, the spread of the virus -- with a mortality rate thought to be about six percent -- is also taking a psychological toll.

A 48-year-old man quarantined in the Ho Ping hospital hanged himself after being told his family may have SARS, doctors said.

Cable television also showed a woman in a mask and hospital gown trying to throw herself from a window before being pulled back in on Sunday.

Some analysts say fear over the disease could be short-lived.

``The cabinet moves are appropriate but no measures can control people's fear of SARS,'' said Andrew Chen, JF Asset Management's investment director. ``But SARS is like the U.S.-Iraq war, when it is over, people will realize it's only short-term.''

About five percent of Taiwan's 23 million people live or work in China, despite often testy political relations since a civil war in 1949. Travelers from China to Taiwan had dropped to 4,000 a day, from 10,000 before the SARS outbreak.

Both Chen and Lin said they did not expect major stock market reaction on Monday, as the main TAIEX had already plunged nine percent to a six-month low last week.

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