President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Thursday was named among the 50 most influential people in the world by Bloomberg News.
In an introduction titled “Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s COVID Crusher,” the US-based media company said that Taiwan had gone more than 200 days without recording a locally transmitted case of COVID-19.
That success could be attributed to the quick response of Tsai’s administration, which instituted “one of the world’s most effective pandemic response protocols,” Bloomberg News said.
Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office, via CNA
Even before Tsai’s re-election on Jan. 11, the government was already responding to early reports of the virus, “preparing to close borders, impose travel restrictions, and set up rigorous contact tracing and quarantine protocols,” it said.
Taiwan also benefited from the widespread use of masks, based on its experience with a deadly SARS outbreak in 2003, the article said.
As a result, Taiwan, with a population of 23 million people, has had just over 600 COVID-19 cases and seven deaths, it said.
Because of its effective response, “Taiwan will likely be among the few economies to experience growth this year, with officials in August forecasting gross domestic product to expand 1.56 percent,” the article said.
However, it said that Taiwan must remain vigilant in light of an increase in its number of imported cases in the past few weeks.
The unranked Bloomberg 50 list, now in its fourth edition, recognizes influential figures in fields such as business, entertainment, finance, politics, science and technology.
This year’s list also included Citigroup chief executive officer Jane Fraser, Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, US singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, and US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci.
Separately, Tsai on Thursday received the International Pioneer Award from the American Legislative Exchange Council for her “extraordinary international leadership and her strong commitment to free markets.”
The award was presented during the States and Nation Policy Summit, held virtually this year by the council due to the pandemic.
In a speech delivered via video, Tsai said that she would continue to preserve and defend Taiwan’s democracy, freedoms and way of life, while never stopping to seek a peaceful and stable cross-Taiwan Strait relationship.
The council, which is the largest organization of US state legislature members, says that the International Pioneer Award is presented to leaders on the international stage whose careers exemplify a commitment to free markets and limited government principles, and to those who have exhibited a steadfast dedication to serving the causes of freedom in their own countries and abroad.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
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SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
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