Thank you, Taiwan
I am American who has lived in Taiwan for 20 years, and has essentially relocated here. Life has long been good here, but this year something extraordinary happened, something excellent during what was surely one of the most distressing years in my life.
Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, I have given thanks for the incredible good fortune of finding myself in Taiwan, a nation that has protected the lives of its citizens and visitors with amazing alacrity, and handled itself brilliantly during the coronavirus disaster.
I probably do not need to state that Taiwan has received global recognition for its efforts in combating the coronavirus. From necessary contact tracing and quarantine measures, to travel, tourism and border controls, to effective testing mechanisms, to excellent production and distribution of surgical masks (which the population widely wore), to exceptional communication with the public via the nation’s Central Epidemic Command Center led by the very able Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), Taiwan has made wise moves at every level to counter the disease.
Fortune magazine wrote on Oct. 31 how “Taiwan’s COVID response became the world’s envy.”
I have been the recipient of this excellent service and capability, and to be sure my health could not be better, with no trace of infection anywhere near me or my family. My own mother traveled for Thanksgiving with her family this year in the US, and she fully recognized the imminent dangers in the air, and that she would be having Thanksgiving dinner outside, with masks in place, and social distancing preventing anything like a truly close encounter with her siblings and their children.
I meanwhile had a delicious dinner at a local hotel, in a packed room with no danger in sight.
So, I have lived out the coronavirus safely and happily, with no danger presented to myself or my family — and I have been happy and proud of what I have experienced in Taiwan.
This is not the place to argue for Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO and other such international organizations. We all know that Taiwan did something great, that the country has much to offer in terms of world health, and doors could be opened because of this.
The nation protected its entire population and every visitor that came here (many came simply to be in the safer environment). Anyone in the world would agree that something wonderful happened here, and would value and appreciate the successful effort that led to an incredibly secure environment.
Thank you, Taiwan, for all that you have given and done.
David Pendery
Taipei
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