Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan. Tsai announced plans to send 10 million masks to the United States and Europe. (The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)

In the critical early months of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, the Chinese Communist government obscured global knowledge of the virus while procuring the international supply of ventilators and medical supplies. Taiwan noticed China's actions and began taking precautions against an "invisible enemy" that bared resemblance to the SARS outbreak that originated in China years earlier.

Today, Taiwan has suffered just six coronavirus deaths out of a population of 300 million, and has gained global attention for its swift and effective response to mitigating the pandemic within its own borders.

This week, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu joined Hudson for a discussion on Taiwan's transparent response model versus China's restrictive efforts, Beijing's influence over the World Health Organization, and the strengths of transparent societies in fighting the pandemic. Read key takeaways from this insightful discussion with Dr. Wu below, and also catch our events with German Ambassador to the US Emily Haber and Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon for an update on their nations' efforts to combat the virus.

As always, see our full round-up of analysis on Hudson's coronavirus homepage.

Taiwan's Pandemic-Fighting Model

Major takeaways from the discussion with Minister Wu on how Taiwan is fighting COVID-19 and China's efforts to politicize global public health.

1. Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on the differences in Taiwan and China's pandemic response:

If anyone asks me about the difference between the Taiwan model and a Chinese communist model in fighting against Covid-19 I will say the most important factor is transparency and honesty. We in Taiwan cannot afford to conceal or to lie, but the Chinese communists are institutionally incapable of telling the truth.​

2. Minister Wu on Taiwan's efforts to mitigate the outbreak:

First, a quick response. On December 31st, the same day we reached out to the WHO about this mysterious SARS-like pneumonia, we started screening passengers on board of all flights coming from Wuhan prior to the first case arriving in Taiwan.

When the [Taiwanese] government noticed a wave of procurement by the Chinese on critical medical supplies, not only in Taiwan but also in other countries, we quickly issued an export ban. Since our experts failed to obtain a credible response from Chinese officials in Wuhan, we thought something went wrong there and we needed to arm ourselves for the war against an invisible enemy.

[We] began a daily press conference to brief the public on the real situation in the country and around the world. The confirmed cases found, their origin, context, traces, and so forth, educating the public how to protect themselves. The press rounds were also used to combat disinformation generated mostly by the Chinese.

We designed a system to quickly streamline testing, diagnose, and treatment. We have designated over 160 testing facilities around the country. From these facilities confirmed cases would either be sent to one of 134 medical facilities for milder cases or 50 large regional centers for more severe cases. This system allowed us to quickly isolate patients based on their severity as well as prioritize medical personnel and equipment.

3. Minister Wu on the World Health Organization's exclusion of Taiwan:

Pandemics recognize no borders and make no distinctions between nationalities.

We think it is irresponsible for the WHO to continue to limit Taiwan's participation. We have noted that while we have made some progress, significant hurdles remain. One area that is very important for us is information exchange. Without timely access to critical information about the coronavirus, Taiwan risks becoming a gap in the global health system, undermining the very purpose of the WHO existence and these also puts at risk everything we have worked so hard to accomplish both in Taiwan and together with other like-minded countries. Despite our difficulties with the WHO we are moving ahead with experience sharing at a regional level.

4. Hudson Asia-Pacific Security Chair Patrick Cronin on the WHO's politicization of the pandemic:

Excluding an advanced democracy like Taiwan from readiness in fighting a pandemic doesn't make any sense at all. Beijing should not be allowed to politicize global public health. Yet that's what's happened by ensuring Taiwan's non-participation in the World Health Assembly, the decision making body of the World Health Organization. When you consider that both SARS and COVID-19 originated in China, Taiwan has to take part in the international early warning and response system.​

5. Vincent Chao on the power of transparent societies in fighting the pandemic: 

[Taiwan's] model of transparency, public awareness, and public buy-in is quite different from the authoritarian model that Beijing has been pushing for.

Even before the first case was identified in Taiwan, we've held public briefings, we've messaged early and aggressively on all issues concerning coronavirus, including even the hoarding of essential goods. We've also ensured public buy-in for some of the more serious actions we've taken, such as mandatory home quarantines. And this has been really reflected, I think in opinion polls that we've taken that reflects sort of the level of confidence people have in government's response.

6. Seth Cropsey, Director of Hudson's Center for American Seapower, on the contrast between Taiwan and China's response to the outbreak: 

I think that the contrast between Taiwan and the PRC could not possibly be more interesting. It's a contrast between democracy and tyranny. It's a contrast between transparency and opaqueness. Most of all, it's a contrast between effective response and an ineffective response, the details of which we may never know.

Quotes have been edited for length and clarity

Go Deeper: Hudson on the Coronavirus