Taiwan’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has won approval worldwide, and its donations of masks and medical equipment to many Western countries have received much applause.
Just as many European countries are gradually easing their lockdowns, the pandemic is gaining strength in Latin America, where many of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies are. There is a confirmed case among the staff of the Republic of China embassy in Honduras, demonstrating the increasingly serious nature of the pandemic in Latin America. The government should strengthen assistance to fighting the pandemic in this region in a spirit of human solidarity.
Although official statistics for Latin America show that confirmed cases have exceeded 1.2 million, the actual figure is unknown, not simply because of shortcomings in medical testing and the reporting of cases, but also because of cover-ups by authoritarian governments. The official figures of confirmed cases from Nicaragua differ from those of human rights groups in the country by an order of magnitude.
In South America, Brazil has nearly reached 900,000 confirmed cases, making it second only to the US in terms of the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. There are fewer confirmed cases in places such as Mexico, Ecuador and Argentina, but their medical systems are being stretched and they have a shortage of medical supplies. These countries are in dire need of foreign aid and some of them are Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti have the highest number of confirmed cases among Taiwan’s allies, but the actual number of confirmed cases could be even higher, due to inadequate healthcare, poor economic situations and lack of development.
Taiwan has so far initiated three waves of humanitarian aid missions in response to the global pandemic, including the provision of more than 1 million masks to its allies. However, this amount fell far short of the number that Taiwan donated to one particular US state. One wonders how Taiwan’s allies felt about that.
US experts on Latin America, when discussing the impact of COVID-19 in this region, almost always mention the role played by the Chinese communists, and what they have done for Taiwan’s diplomatic allies. China in March started sending large volumes of medical supplies and technical assistance to Latin America. Huawei Technologies Co formed the vanguard, providing technological support to Guatemala.
The Paraguayan government looked to Taiwan for assistance, but from April its Farmers’ Association started sending letters pleading for supplies to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese embassy.
Haitian President Jovenel Moise went in person to Toussaint Louverture International Airport near Port-au-Prince to witness the arrival of medical supplies bought from China.
These events will have had an impact on Taiwan’s staunch allies.
Last month, 71 pro-Taiwan lawmakers — Latin American Formosa Club members from 10 Latin American countries, nine of which are not Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — sent letters to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, highlighting the legitimacy and urgency of Taiwan’s WHO inclusion.
Taiwan has expressed its deep appreciation for this initiative, but it should provide assistance to these countries in the spirit of the “Taiwan can help” message, as well as helping diplomatic staff and overseas Taiwanese living there, to show that it is sincere in its offers of help.
Ball Chang is an associate professor at the Chihlee Institute of Technology’s Department of Applied English.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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