Two US lawmakers on Friday introduced a draft US-Taiwan Public Health Protection Act, showing Taiwan’s experience is much needed by the world despite its exclusion from the WHO.
The bill, introduced by US Senator Tom Cotton and Representative Ro Khanna, proposes the establishment of a US-Taiwan infectious disease monitoring center within the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the US’ de facto embassy in Taipei.
Since COVID-19 broke out in China’s Wuhan in December 2019, more than 248 million people around the world have tested positive for the virus, more than 5 million of whom have died, WHO data showed yesterday.
Aside from compiling the data, the global health body has failed to demonstrate leadership in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has not been able to provide a convincing investigation report on the origin of the virus. Most countries struggled to bring the pandemic under control by themselves or through cooperation with friendly countries, while new variants of SARS-CoV-2 continue to be reported in different corners of the world.
Taiwan is on the front line of defending against viruses and diseases imported from China. Prior to the pandemic, Taiwan was busy preventing the entry of African swine fever, which was raging across China and its neighboring countries. When Taiwan noticed an unusual pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan at the end of 2019, it implemented quarantine measures for people returning from China, even though Chinese authorities initially said that there was no sign of human-to-human transmission.
In hindsight, Taiwan’s caution regarding any information released by China has been key to its success in curbing the pandemic.
Taiwanese officials were not without their own blunders during the fight against the virus. Their delayed procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and problematic vaccination priority list led to vehement political disputes during a severe local outbreak that began in May. Nonetheless, the nation overcame these challenges, thanks to timely assistance from democratic partners that donated COVID-19 vaccines.
Over the past two years, many countries have expressed interest in Taiwan’s disease-prevention system by seeking to meet with the nation’s health experts. Former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), an epidemiologist, on Tuesday led a team in a virtual meeting with Polish Academy of Sciences members. It was one of the countless meetings that Chen attended during the period.
Instead of letting such videoconferences take place occasionally, Taiwan needs a more regular platform to share its experience and document its exchanges with foreign partners. The disease monitoring center proposed by the US lawmakers would be a good start.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament earlier this week sent its first official delegation to Taiwan for discussions on combating disinformation. Before leaving Taipei, the delegation’s leader, European Member of Parliament Raphael Glucksmann, told a news conference on Friday that the EU is mulling the establishment of a center to fight disinformation, and that Taiwan would be a reasonable location to consider.
While Taiwan was portrayed as “the most dangerous place on Earth” by The Economist in its May edition, with many experts warning Taiwan about a Chinese invasion in coming years, spending more money on military equipment is not the only thing the nation can do.
Making itself a “porcupine” against military, biosafety or cybersecurity threats from China, in addition to becoming an indispensable partner for other countries, might signal more ways for Taiwan to prevent annexation by China.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) sits down with US President Donald Trump in Beijing on Thursday next week, Xi is unlikely to demand a dramatic public betrayal of Taiwan. He does not need to. Beijing’s preferred victory is smaller, quieter and in some ways far more dangerous: a subtle shift in American wording that appears technical, but carries major strategic meaning. The ask is simple: replace the longstanding US formulation that Washington “does not support Taiwan independence” with a harder one — that Washington “opposes” Taiwan independence. One word changes; a deterrence structure built over decades begins to shift.
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