Thank you Tsai Ing-wen
Dear Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文),
Thank you for taking care of us. It seems that you have presided over a nonpolitical, cohesive and effective healthcare strategy that saw Taiwan effectively beat back the first wave of Wuhan pneumonia [COVID-19] by the middle of last month. Taiwan is also not doing all that badly with the second wave of infections, which is almost more amazing considering what is currently going on throughout the rest of the world.
Of course, every effective captain needs a good crew, and the government workers, doctors, nurses, police, administrators, security guards, and the local and foreign community have all stepped up and played a role in our ongoing battle against Wuhan pneumonia.
Then when the rest of the world saw how effective Team Taiwan had been, they adopted similar approaches, and as a global community, a brotherhood and sisterhood of nations, we collectively did something never before achieved in human history, and beat back a deadly pandemic with only a small number of casualties.
Well that is what could have happened.
Unfortunately, while Team Taiwan has been receiving some positive press throughout the world and rightly so, much of the rest of the world has been dancing to the beat of a different set of drums played by our noisy neighbors and their partners in crime the WHO.
Do you remember when the WHO was praising China’s transparency and holding up its approaches as a model that other countries could adopt in the global battle against Wuhan pneumonia?
How could it utter such a statement when clear evidence to the contrary shows that this is certainly not the case?
Surely the leaders of the free world, and even the not-so-free world, have the critical thinking abilities to assess the validity of a range of approaches that would best protect their citizens from this insidious and terrible pandemic.
Unfortunately, it seems not.
It is worth pointing out how Team Taiwan has achieved this with few negative effects on our daily lives. Sure, the kids were at home from school for a couple of weeks.
As a busy father with busy children, I kind of enjoyed that. Sometimes we are all too busy in Taiwan, and a few months before the kids were required to stay at home, I was asking myself why do I need to make an appointment to spend time with my children?
Yes, we have had to line up for masks, but at least we received them, and yes, we have to sign in, have our temperature’s taken and sanitize our hands before we do anything communally, which can take up a bit more time, but it is certainly time well spent.
Have you noticed how there are fewer colds and instances of the flu in schools and communities right now? Although, we have taken these actions to stem the tide of this deadly pandemic, as it pushed back against Wuhan pneumonia, it also gave common colds and the flu a bit of a kicking, too.
Is anyone collecting data on the incidences of other respiratory problems at this time? Probably not, since we are too busy. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see if improvements in personal, communal and societal hygiene levels are having a positive effect by lessoning the incidence of other sicknesses?
The level of transparency of your government has also been unprecedented. Team Taiwan has provided daily updates, so we know where it is relatively safe to go, and also where we should avoid.
We knew when community transmissions were lessening and how the government was dealing with the wave of imported incidences of Wuhan pneumonia in round two of this terrible battle. That gave us all, and is continuing to give us, peace of mind to go about our daily lives in a way that people in many other countries simply cannot do at this time. It is also minimizing negative effects to the economy and society.
When Maria Bartiromo from Mornings with Maria on Fox News told Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) that “this has been an incredible approach and a successful one,” Wu explained Team Taiwan’s “whole government approach” clearly and concisely, later adding that “overall speaking this is quite successful.”
I had to laugh. You have got to love that kind of Taiwanese understatement, since Team Taiwan is arguably the world leader in this battle against Wuhan pneumonia.
Is it hyperbole to say that Taiwan’s “whole government approach” has provided a model for the rest of the world to follow? Is it hyperbole to say that Team Taiwan has achieved something never before achieved in human history and successfully pushed back against a currently incurable infectious disease that is causing so much damage throughout the rest of the world?
Well, the battle continues, but when the dust settles and the international community starts to get back on its feet, we will have time to talk about this in more detail.
There have been some opinion pieces in the local and global press about whether technological and tracking-based approaches taken by Team Taiwan are jeopardizing freedoms, privacy rights and even human rights, and this is a great debate to have in a thriving and progressive democracy.
However, when I post online about yoga and then I am bombarded with a series of targeted ads about yoga classes, this is most definitely an infringement of my right to privacy. Arguably, this is how technology is used in a negative manner to the detriment of its users, and many like that almost everything they do in the Internet era can be tracked.
In this case, it can be said that Team Taiwan has provided a model of how to use the best of modern technology to help its citizens.
So what is next? China and the WHO have effectively and unequivocally closed off one road which would have allowed Taiwan to assist other countries in their battles against Wuhan pneumonia. Why? For geopolitical, egotistical reasons, maybe? For reasons too convoluted to address here.
Forget about this for now and concentrate on helping the people who need it. While the WHO arguably has a significant amount of blood on its hands, Team Taiwan can still save lives by looking for bilateral opportunities to assist others, who so clearly need it.
Taiwan has been unceremoniously and unjustifiable left out in the cold politically for a long time. It is time to return the favor by showing the rest of the world our generosity in their time of dire need.
As I am writing this letter, my wife has just told me that I can now send 30 masks back to my grandmother in the UK, so thanks for that, too. [Editor’s note: At the time of publication, mask shipments are limited to first and second-degree relatives with Republic of China citizenship.]
Apologies for the length of this letter. Hopefully, you get the sense of the depth of my gratitude, but I will try to summarize as simply and clearly as possible: Thank you for protecting my children, my family, my local community and my adopted country, and keep up the good work in what must be a busy and stressful time for you.
Taiwan has always had a special place in my heart and is unequivocally more than ever before No. 1.
Steven (family name withheld)
Taipei
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