On 13 March, Taiwan’s methods for combating COVID-19 were spotlighted in an article titled “How Taiwan is containing coronavirus—despite diplomatic isolation by China” by The Guardian. The piece stressed how the ‘harsh lessons’ Taiwan learned from the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has helped keep the country’s infections under 50, despite its exclusion from the World Health Organization (WHO) due to China’s pressure. The article points out that as the UK, US, Italy and other countries outside China struggle to cope with rising cases of the virus within their borders, many are taking note of Taiwan’s successes: “Experts and officials say effective controls in Taiwan can be attributed to the use of technology, a central command centre, its single-payer healthcare system and swift decision making.” Taiwan’s quick implementation of border controls and ban on surgical mask exports were raised as examples of effective measures in combating the spread of the disease. The article notes that despite the sense of calm, Taiwanese officials are still on high alert, citing Taiwan Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung’s statement last week that community transmission was unavoidable in the long run and Taiwan needed to be prepared.
The piece also drew attention to Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO and other international organisations due to China’s objections, “even though Taiwan functions as a sovereign country with an independent, democratically-elected government.” The article noted that Taiwan has been barred from attending the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) since 2017 due to China’s lobbying, adding that in the current outbreak, Taiwan has been excluded from WHO emergency meetings on the coronavirus with the exception of Taiwanese experts participating online in a WHO forum about COVID-19 on 12 February. The piece also highlighted the international support for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO, including from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The article follows similar praise for Taiwan’s response to coronavirus from many international media outlets around the world, including Canada, the US, St Lucia, Chile, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and other nations.
