Taiwan, like Canada, is a multicultural nation. Its residents migrated mainly from the South Pacific islands and the southern coast of China during the 13th and the 17th to 19th centuries. For nearly 400 years, Taiwan has been subject to the Dutch, Spanish, Kingdom of Tungning, Qing Dynasty, Japanese and Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) regimes. It was not until the first presidential election in 1996 that Taiwanese truly moved toward democracy.
Taiwan is an independent nation with solid borders, an effective government and diplomatic relations. It shares the same values of democracy, freedom, rule of law and human rights as Canada. It is the 22nd-largest economy in the world and the 12th-largest trading partner of Canada.
Taiwan received the highest ranking in this year’s Health Care Index by Country from the crowd-sourced global database Numbeo, with a score of 86.71, while last year, CEOWORLD Magazine ranked it highest in its Health Care Index.
Taiwan also leads in technology, biology, chemistry and engineering sectors.
Taiwan is internationally renowned for its reputation on political rights and civil liberties, and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has publicly praised it as a democratic success story, a reliable partner and a force for good.
However, as China rises to power, it seeks to impose its so-called “one China” principle on the UN, meaning that Taiwan cannot be recognized as a sovereign country. With China’s “sharp power” influence over the international community, Taiwan also cannot become a WHO observer nation.
Since COVID-19 broke out in China in December, more than 1.2 million people worldwide have tested positive for the virus, more than 64,000 have died and more than 180 countries have been affected.
Taiwan, predicted to be the second-worst infected area after China, has created a “medical miracle” through the determined efforts of its government and people, and kept the confirmed cases to only about 5 per 1 million people.
NBC News on March 10 published the story “What Taiwan can teach the world on fighting the coronavirus,” which praised the government’s success in preventing an epidemic through eight measures: establish a command center, be alert and proactive, take quick and decisive action, use technology to detect and track cases, ensure availability of supplies, educate the public, earn public buy-in, and learn from the 2003 SARS outbreak.
Taiwan’s epidemic prevention achievements have been recognized by authoritative medical journals, with Nature last month publishing a piece that said it is “time for the WHO to reconsider its stance towards Taiwan.”
Mainstream media in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US have had similar reports. The Telegraph even said that Taiwan sets the “gold standard on epidemic response.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also publicly said that Taiwan’s role as an observer in World Health Assembly meetings is in the best interest of the international community and Taiwan is an important partner in the fight against the pandemic.
Taiwan has sufficient experience and capabilities, and can assist the WHO in implementing the “the highest attainable standard of health for all human beings.”
No citizen of any nation should live without the right to health regardless of race, religion or political beliefs, or economic or social condition. The international community should not allow China’s authoritative regime to exclude democratic Taiwan from the WHO due to political preferences.
Masao Sun is director of the Culture Center for Taiwanese in Canada.
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