There is absolutely no sense in engaging with conspiracy theorists. People who can't properly process or judge evidence will never have their minds changed by words. The only words they're capable of hearing are those which already fit a pre-existing worldview.
I spent a decade in that mindset, I know it intimately.
If risk-planning had not resulted in those signs being purchased before the outbreak; exactly the same people would be arguing THAT was clear evidence of the conspiracy...
"What? They expect us to believe that the government had no warning signs purchased for this eventuality? Yeah right! They don't print up new roadworks signs only when pot-holes appear, do they? If there's a chemical spill on a motorway, I bet they have some "hazardous materials" signs in a warehouse somewhere, right? Of course they do!!! But they didn't have any signs warning about one of the biggest animal diseases on the planet? Ha! Clearly they were deliberately unprepared so the disease would spread quicker!"
So we have the allegation that risk-management is evidence of conspiracy. And now we see how quickly a lack of risk-management would become evidence of conspiracy too.
People who think like that are incapable of rooting their mind properly and arguing from a position of good faith or rationality. Do not engage with them is my advice.
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PS: The Taiwanese pork industry was devastated by Foot & Mouth disease in 1997 ("During the outbreak, over 3.8 million pigs had to be destroyed at a cost of almost US$7 billion"). That's just three years before the UK was buying the "dodgy signs".
Personally I'm willing to bet that dozens of agricultural nations stepped up preparation and risk-mitigation exercises during the years following the Taiwan outbreak.
An interesting research project; I mean, if the UK was the only nation to react in any way to the Taiwanese outbreak, then maybe there might be more to this than meets the eye.
It would probably require a solid month of research though -- to personally make contact with the department of agriculture and/or emergency planning in, let's say 100 nations; conduct interviews, find out what preparations were being made throughout the world, how much was spent in different countries, and put together a case study and some comparative research material.
Y'know, gather facts. It's hard work and it's not as much fun as just spouting unsourced allegations and sheer nonsense. But it's how we get closest to whatever Truth is there to be found.
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