Taiwan Under Tsai – A Pandemic Standout

Few nations around the world have been left unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those that have been affected, wherever they are, are in large part working side-by-side as the globe looks to put an end to a virus that has so far infected almost two million, and has killed over 150,000.

And, whilst there are a few standouts globally, most notably Taiwan – a nation that only yesterday recorded NO additional cases of COVID-19 in over 1,000 suspected cases tested – it turns out that most of the nations coping the best against the latest coronavirus are led by women.

In an April 13th Forbes piece, columnist Avivah Wittenberg-Cox picked up on this fact, asking: “What do countries with the best coronavirus responses have in common? Women Leaders.”

Taiwan is of course one such nation, led since 2016, by President Tsai Ing-wen.

Other nations with female prime ministers and presidents faring much better than others against the virus include Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand and Norway.

Yet, while the case of Taiwan’s anti-COVID success is known domestically, the quick reactions of the government to the initial outbreak as early as January one of the main reasons Taiwan remains relatively free of COVID-19 compared to other nations, Tsai has made no moves to claim any credit for herself.

Instead, she is referred to in the Forbes article by Wittenberg-Cox as saying “the key to the success of curbing the spread of the virus is the collective efforts of Taiwan nationals who have united to fight against COVID-19. Taiwan’s epidemic responses and medical assistance to other countries have won world recognition too.” – credit passed from the president to the nation operating, almost, as normal.

Schools remain open in Taiwan, business and industry is operating at close-on full capacity, and besides a few warnings on mass gatherings and advisories on social distancing and the wearing of masks, Taiwan remains a nation open for business and able to help others.

It is doing so most notably in terms of huge donations of surgical face masks numbering in the millions, and in sharing know-how with those countries willing to listen.

Taiwan can help. Taiwan is helping. And the world is a better place for it.

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.