Small as it may be, Taiwan never fails to reach out and lend a helping hand to other countries, in particular during this critical moment when the entire world is practically engulfed by the CCP virus that originated from China’s Wuhan, also known as COVID-19.
Taiwan informed the World Health Organization of the danger of the novel coronavirus
Despite being excluded from World Health Organization (WHO) and diplomatically isolated due to the Chinese Communist regime’s incessant pressure, the country still sent an email to WHO’s International Health Regulations (IHR) on December 31, 2019, to inform WHO of the possibility of human-to-human transmission of this novel coronavirus, based on the information it had collected and the experiences it learned from the outbreak of SARS in 2003.
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Please watch the following video of members of the Italian Parliament who expressed their appreciation to Taiwan for the donation of medical supplies to Italy.
In the meantime, the country’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also contacted its counterpart in China, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, asking for further information in this regard so as to come up with possible solutions. Nevertheless, its request was simply responded to with a press release from China.
The country launched a campaign to help other countries in need
To further help other countries in their time of need, the country, based on the conviction that humanity has no borders, has recently launched a campaign dubbed “Taiwan Can Help, and Taiwan Is Helping (臺灣能幫忙，而且臺灣正在幫忙).”
After Taiwan’s “national face mask team” miraculously boosted its daily face mask output from 1 million to 15 million masks within a short span of a couple of weeks, it has donated around 20 million surgical masks and other medical supplies to other countries.
On April 1, the country donated 10 million surgical masks and other medical supplies to the United States, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, the Holy See, Switzerland, and the UK, as well as smaller nations that have diplomatic ties.
On April 9, the country further donated 6 million more surgical masks to EU member states in Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe, some U.S. states that have been severely impacted, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as other countries under Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. On April 16, a total of 2 million surgical masks were also donated to Japan.
Taiwan shared its expertise and experiences with other countries
Besides providing tangible medical supplies to other countries, Taiwan has also offered its expertise and experiences in combatting this CCP coronavirus with other countries in various forms.
For one thing, Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University Hospital conducted a videoconference to share its practical experiences in combating the CCP virus with 5,000 doctors and public health academics across India on April 14.
For another, National Taiwan University Hospital hosted a multilateral videoconference on April 15 to share its expertise and successful experience in fighting the CCP coronavirus with some 80 high-ranking officials and medical professionals from the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and Dominican Republic (SE-COMISCA), as well as Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Dominica, and El Salvador.
Taiwan works with other countries to develop solutions to the pandemic
Furthermore, the country has closely collaborated with the EU to develop a rapid diagnostic test and a vaccine for COVID-19. Besides, the country has also established a partnership with the U.S. in the areas of medicine development, contact tracing technology, and the exchange of medical supplies.
Taiwanese people join the government in helping other countries in need
In addition to the government’s humanitarian endeavors, the people have also fully demonstrated their compassionate empathy to help those who are in need.
Seeing Italy severely hit by the CCP Virus, an Italian priest, Father Giuseppe Didone, appealed to the Taiwan society on April 1 for donations to purchase emergency medical provisions for medical personnel in Italy. The original target was NT$11 million (US$0.37 million) in two weeks, but as it turned out, an astonishing NT$120 million (US$3.97 million), 10 times more than the original target, was raised in six days. Father Giuseppe Didone thus closed the fundraiser campaign quickly.
Though small, Taiwan is in fact a giant in terms of healthcare and international humanitarian assistance. This small country can help and is helping.
