An article by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was included in a special issue published by Time Magazine on Thursday that asked over 50 TIME 100 honorees for their insights on the challenges the world faces navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
The special issue, titled "Finding Hope," reached out to hundreds of people who have appeared on Time's list of the 100 most influential people, including Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon and the 14th Dalai Lama, for their perspectives on the pandemic, according to the American news magazine.
In her article, Tsai wrote that Taiwan's success in preventing a major outbreak of the coronavirus "is no coincidence."
"A combination of efforts by medical professionals, government, private sector and society at large have armored our country's defenses," she wrote, adding that the painful lesson Taiwan learned during the 2003 SARS outbreak put its government and people on high alert early on.
She noted that Taiwan began monitoring incoming passengers from Wuhan, China, as early as December, established the Central Epidemic Command Center in January, and subsequently introduced travel restrictions and quarantine protocols for high-risk travelers.
In addition to public health professionals, Taiwanese citizens, businesses and communities have all taken steps to contain the virus, Tsai wrote.
"Although Taiwan has been unfairly excluded from the WHO and the U.N., we remain willing and able to utilize our strengths across manufacturing, medicine and technology to work with the world," she wrote.
"Taiwan is no stranger to hardship, and our resilience stems from our willingness to unite to surmount even the toughest obstacles," the article says.
"This, above all else, is what I hope Taiwan can share with the world: the human capacity to overcome challenges together is limitless. Taiwan can help."
Time Magazine has postponed the publication of the 2020 TIME 100 list, previously scheduled for release on April 16, until September, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Thursday, Taiwan has confirmed 395 cases of COVID-19, with six deaths.
(Source of news: CNA)
