Let Taiwan into the World Health Organisation

Economist, Let Taiwan into the World Health Organisation, 2020/03/26.

Spare a moment and admire Taiwan. Its handling of the new coronavirus pandemic has so far saved many, many lives. The figures tell the story. A country of 24m, it has far fewer infections than its neighbours: just 235 as of March 25th, with only two deaths...

Its response was swift, and ranged from screening inbound air passengers to energetic testing and rationing face masks. A curious legacy of dictatorship under the Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, organised along Leninist lines, is Taiwan’s system of neighbourhood wardens. These have helped enforce quarantines and deliver food to those who cannot go out to get it. 

If Taiwan shines at anything, it is IT. National databases and big data have been put to use identifying those most at risk of infection. If that sounds like Big Brother, freedom-loving Taiwanese have widely accepted it for the common good. Meanwhile, the government is open and upfront about the progress of the outbreak. The media take the dissemination of information seriously. And a stiff fake-news law has helped shut down disinformation campaigns on social media originating from China, which are intended to sow mistrust of the government’s handling of the pandemic. If ordinary Taiwanese are broadly reassured, so is the economy. Business confidence has held up remarkably well. This is in striking contrast to the panic and uncertainty in Europe and America.... 

For all that, Taiwan’s performance is remarkable. Even more remarkable is that the country is not a member of the World Health Organisation. The simple reason is that a bullying China refuses it entry (*). It may not even attend the World Health Assembly, the WHO’s decision-making forum, as an observer. When Taiwan wrote to the WHO in late December asking whether there was human-to-human transmission in the virus outbreak in Wuhan, the WHO, the body now admits, did not reply....

The WHO has praised China for “perhaps the most ambitious, agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history”, which is true. But the WHO could spare a word of praise for Taiwan, too. Better yet, it should insist that China end its unconscionable boycott. 

(*) Should be "its entry"?