The forceful response of the President of Taiwan to the WHO director for an unusual accusation

In what appears to be an escalation in the dialectical quarrel between the World Health Organization (WHO) and Taiwan, was now the president of the country historically faced with China the one that responded to the accusations of “racism” on the part of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the health body, who is increasingly questioned by the management of the crisis in the coronavirus pandemic.

Ghebreyesus accused last Wednesday Taipei of orchestrating a smear campaign against him that he described as racist, concepts that offended and generated fury in the Taiwanese administration, historically harassed by Beijing and neglected by multilateral organizations such as itself WHO that it does not allow him to be an observer member as a consequence of the lobby exerted by the communist regime.

“I strongly protest the allegations that Taiwan is instigating racist attacks in the international community. Taiwan has always opposed all forms of discrimination. For years, we have been excluded from international organizations, and we know better than anyone what it feels like to be discriminated against and isolated.“, wrote Tsai Ing-wen, president of that country, in her profile Facebook in reply to the Ethiopian politician.

In the long message, Ing-wen It was forceful against the actions of that body and of itself Ghebreyesus, to whom he proposed to make a tour of his nation. “I want to take this opportunity to invite Director General Tedros to visit Taiwan and experience for himself how committed the Taiwanese are to participating and contributing to the world, even in the face of discrimination and isolation.“he sentenced.

Furthermore, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joseph Wu, demanded the dWHO Director-General that he publicly apologize to the Taiwanese people whom, he assured, offended with his accusations. Furthermore, Wu summoned Tedros to put aside their political discrimination; maintain your neutrality and professionalism; to invite Taiwan to participate fully in all meetings and mechanisms of the WHO related to the pandemic; and restore the observer status of his country in World Health Assembly (WHA).

Meanwhile, the legislative leader Kolas Yotaka noted that “Despite the fact that Taiwan was long ago abandoned by the WHO, the government would never attack WHO, nor is it interested in engaging in racial discrimination or personal attacks of any kind against Tedros. We urge WHO management members who share Tedros’ sentiments to put politics aside and renounce Beijing’s’ one China ‘principle to facilitate life-saving efforts amid the pandemic“he added.

The case of Taiwan and its fight against COVID-19

Taiwan could be a very important participant in the fight against the pandemic of coronavirus. However, the WHO does not take it into account due to China. Taipei arranged for a participant and effective system of constant monitoring of the people that it quarantined for various reasons. They are more than 55 thousand and their effectiveness is amazing.

Despite its proximity to the infectious focus and the constant trips from the island to the mainland, Taiwan is one of the least affected countries according to official figures and records of the Johns Hopkins University: just 382 positive cases and six deaths.

The system was implemented at the end of January, a week after Taiwan recorded its first case of the coronavirus imported from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the pandemic started. The authorities analyzed different options, such as tracking bracelets that had been implemented in Hong Kong, but they leaned toward a less invasive form of control.

When someone is quarantined at home, their movements are controlled by their cell phone signals. If the person moves away from the normal radius, a alert causes messages to be sent to you to confirm where you are; if you don’t answer them, you receive calls. And if he doesn’t answer either, like Hsieh, the Police report to your home. Who violate quarantine is fined one million new Taiwan dollars ($ 33,000).

“We deployed the system at once to prevent the epidemic from seriously overloading personnel,” he told Quartz he Vice Prime Minister Chen Chi-mai, who is a doctor and directed the creation of the digital fence. “Every day a lot of people came from China. If we were to use traditional quarantine methods, it would be impossible for us to monitor everyone. ” Despite the diplomatic situation, millions of Taiwanese still work in mainland China and constantly travel to and from the island.

The system also talks about civic-technological connection of the country, which stood out in the response to the pandemic. In early February, for example, there was already a map to monitor in real time the availability of chinstraps in pharmacies, and the government participated to assist in distribution. “Taiwan loves technology and has enough engineers to do something like that,” said T. H. Schee, consultant and entrepreneur, at Taipei.