Oasis of Normalcy: Taiwan's Response to the Virus - 武漢肺炎

by Charles DeBenedetto

(A shipment of Taiwanese masks. Taiwan will be donating 10 million masks to various countries in need. Photo Credit: Focus Taiwan)

I don’t need to report on how society seems to be falling apart around the world; the daily barrage of news, which used to report on a whirlwind of changing topics every thirty seconds, now reports on only one thing. Even the ever-changing name, from Wuhan Virus, to Corona Virus, to Covid-19, and now, really, to “the virus” is telling. It is now “the virus.” It does not need a name, because we all know which virus you are talking about.

But, while every evening I am watching the news like everyone else, and praying for the safety of family and friends, my life in Taiwan goes on as it always did, but only slightly differently. It is now required for all teachers at my school to wear masks while teaching, and the security guard checks our temperature before we enter the building, which are arguably good practices in normal times, too, to prevent any kind of sickness from spreading. Besides those minimal changes though, life continues. But it feels…fragile. I go to a coffee shop during my lunch break because, who knows, maybe society will shut down tomorrow and I won’t enjoy that luxury anytime in the near future.

Despite the feeling of fragility, I still ask myself, "how is Taiwan one of the only first-world countries that is still functioning normally?" Europe is in a state of chaos, America’s healthcare system has finally been exposed as horribly inadequate, Japan compromised the health of the Japanese in a bleak effort to try to keep the Olympics running, and, despite China’s claims that everything is getting better there, we cannot and should not trust their Communist Party official news propaganda. And here is little Taiwan, with no community transmission, and donating ten million masks to the world. Taiwan is leading the world in the fight against the virus.

I don’t want to say what has already been said elsewhere, but clearly the most important thing is that Taiwan learned from the SARS outbreak of 2003, in which hundreds of Taiwanese people died, and the World Health Organization said “Sorry, but you’re on your own,” because they were afraid of China’s petty politics. Taiwanese people suffered and died as a consequence, and Taiwan learned that, if they truly are on their own, then they have to be ready for when the next pandemic happens. And so they prepared for seventeen years for this day, while the rest of the world was blindsided by the rapid spread from Wuhan to elsewhere in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Compare the change in rhetoric. During the SARS epidemic, the conversation sounded like this: “Taiwan is in trouble! Taiwan should be allowed in the WHO because Taiwan needs our help!” Now, during the Covid-19 epidemic, the conversation sounds like this: “The world is in trouble, and Taiwan is the most competent country in the fight against the virus! Taiwan should be allowed in the WHO because the world needs Taiwan’s help!”

While the rest of the world was dragging their feet over whether to shut down or not, Taiwan immediately delayed the beginning of the spring semester by two weeks. Taiwanese soldiers immediately went to work making medical masks in factories 24/7, so that we would have adequate numbers. People coming home from abroad were transported home in “quarantine taxis,” so they would not infect people in train cars or buses. Taiwan has been the example that the world should follow, and news outlets have slowly been picking up on this.

The soft-power gains for Taiwan are enormous, and the world is tuning in to Taiwan and its world-class medical system and democracy.

As a foreigner in Taiwan, I feel so proud of my host country. I feel thankful for every day that I can go to work, do my best to help Taiwanese children receive a good education and contribute to the society that has accepted me, and then go home and spend my leisure hours in a way that I find meaningful. I am grateful for every day I walk into a grocery store and it is fully stocked, and I am grateful for knowing that when I need medical attention, the facilities and resources will be sufficient and inexpensive. And I am grateful to be in the safest country in the world during these extremely uncertain times.

As a foreigner in Taiwan, I have also wondered about the potential risks of living here. Will my life be shorter than it would have been back home, because I am more likely to develop lung cancer as a result of air pollution? Will I eventually be in a scooter accident, leaving me partially handicapped? Will Mainland China finally decide to invade one day, and will I be caught in the crossfire?

I never thought about the potential risks of being home, and not in Taiwan, but now I see that they exist. If I were home, I would probably have lost my job, having it deemed “unessential,” and I probably would have lost the benefits associated with that job. My health insurance situation would probably not be great, and, even if it were, I probably could not get adequate medical attention because our brave doctors and nurses do not have enough resources to help everyone right now.

My prayers go to my compatriots back home, as well as to people everywhere who have been affected by the virus, either physically or economically. I realize the calm in Taiwan may not last forever, and so we must be extremely cautious moving forward. But, I want to leave this post here as a reminder to myself, when the world does eventually return to normal, that Taiwan has been a haven of normalcy in an otherwise chaotic world.