When COVID-19 spread to Europe and the Americas, many Western countries started to suffer from the oubreak in their own lands. Now it is not just Asia’s business; it has become a dire issue for humankind. Countries have rushed to take measures to mitigate the calamity, but for some it seems a bit too late to contain the contagion.
Taiwan might be the first nation to have taken the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, and it took decisive precautions early on.
The nation experienced the bitter SARS outbreak 17 years ago — a time when it was cruelly excluded from the WHO and received no assistance from the world health body due to political suppression from China.
The excruciating history was etched in people’s hearts and the government knew it would be on its own if a similar situation ever occurred.
Clearly, the government has learned an unforgettable lesson from the past and reacted swiftly this time. After all, no Taiwanese could bear a repeat of that heartbreaking history.
After a couple of months’ efforts, the number of confirmed cases and the death toll in Taiwan remain low, even as most other countries’ numbers have soared.
Thanks to its preparedness, the government can even donate masks to countries severely affected by the pandemic. Taiwan’s dedication, humanity and generosity have earned many nations’ approval.
However, will the admiration last long enough and be strong enough to allow Taiwan to enter the WHO? It is a question that will take time to answer.
The Beijing government has claimed that China is out of the woods and has started to play the role of rescuer.
Its medical resources have cunningly become a leverage to gain some political or business benefits from other countries at their most fragile moment. Its ambition is self-evident.
This pandemic might have made many nations aware of how big the risk is to put all their eggs in the same basket and the scheme that the Chinese government holds.
In the past decades, the Chinese government’s influence has penetrated many international organizations and it has even taken charge in some of them.
In the WHO’s case, it has shown that in a dictatorship like China, its people could not get transparent information or real statistics about the pandemic — let alone other countries.
Ironically, it is this country that has the most clout in the WHO, a global health body that is supposed to treasure humanity above all.
Taiwan has cutting-edge medical technology, a single-payer national health insurance system and first-class medical practitioners; however, it is like a vacuum in the medical world.
Although the government seems to be temporarily weathering the pandemic in spite of many unfavorable conditions, it is still walking on eggshells to avoid falling short. Taiwan can help the world and it also needs the world’s help.
Like other democratic countries, Taiwan faces the dilemma of containing the pandemic and possibly breaching citizens’ privacy and freedom, and is struggling to maintain a balance. There is a fine line between rolling back democracy and pandemic control, and only real democratic countries would bother seeking a balance.
The worldwide health net can not bear any tiny leak. Taiwan might have done its part to win the appreciation of other countries, but it remains uncertain what decision they would make at the WHO when confronted by China.
Janet Hung is a physical therapist.
Having lived through former British prime minister Boris Johnson’s tumultuous and scandal-ridden administration, the last place I had expected to come face-to-face with “Mr Brexit” was in a hotel ballroom in Taipei. Should I have been so surprised? Over the past few years, Taiwan has unfortunately become the destination of choice for washed-up Western politicians to turn up long after their political careers have ended, making grandiose speeches in exchange for extraordinarily large paychecks far exceeding the annual salary of all but the wealthiest of Taiwan’s business tycoons. Taiwan’s pursuit of bygone politicians with little to no influence in their home
In a recent essay, “How Taiwan Lost Trump,” a former adviser to US President Donald Trump, Christian Whiton, accuses Taiwan of diplomatic incompetence — claiming Taipei failed to reach out to Trump, botched trade negotiations and mishandled its defense posture. Whiton’s narrative overlooks a fundamental truth: Taiwan was never in a position to “win” Trump’s favor in the first place. The playing field was asymmetrical from the outset, dominated by a transactional US president on one side and the looming threat of Chinese coercion on the other. From the outset of his second term, which began in January, Trump reaffirmed his
Despite calls to the contrary from their respective powerful neighbors, Taiwan and Somaliland continue to expand their relationship, endowing it with important new prospects. Fitting into this bigger picture is the historic Coast Guard Cooperation Agreement signed last month. The common goal is to move the already strong bilateral relationship toward operational cooperation, with significant and tangible mutual benefits to be observed. Essentially, the new agreement commits the parties to a course of conduct that is expressed in three fundamental activities: cooperation, intelligence sharing and technology transfer. This reflects the desire — shared by both nations — to achieve strategic results within
It is difficult not to agree with a few points stated by Christian Whiton in his article, “How Taiwan Lost Trump,” and yet the main idea is flawed. I am a Polish journalist who considers Taiwan her second home. I am conservative, and I might disagree with some social changes being promoted in Taiwan right now, especially the push for progressiveness backed by leftists from the West — we need to clean up our mess before blaming the Taiwanese. However, I would never think that those issues should dominate the West’s judgement of Taiwan’s geopolitical importance. The question is not whether
RSS