As the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic continued, Radio France International and Deutsche Welle published separate articles praising Taiwan for taking effective measures to contain the virus and set a good example for the world.
Though located across a strait from mainland China, Taiwan, with a population of 23.5 million, managed to have only 42 cases of infection and one death.
As they mentioned, Taiwan, with a democratic system and a history of resisting the Chinese Communist Party, set an example to show the “difference between a democratic country and an autocratic regime in handling the pandemic.”
The two articles listed the following factors that resulted in success in Taiwan:
- Stopped people from mainland China from entering Taiwan and quarantined non-Chinese citizens who traveled from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao to Taiwan.
- Established a “unified command” system in 2004, a year after the SARS outbreak. The key to this mechanism is to include multiple agencies, including transportation, customs, and education, together. At the beginning stage, the government conducted a big data analysis with citizens’ health records and the National Immigration Agency’s data, to provide travel history to the medical staff members to better identify the coronavirus infection.
- Implemented quarantine measures with full respect for individual rights. “They let the people under quarantine feel that the government cares about their safety. Thus the people with suspected infections come forward to the government for a further check. This is the biggest difference between a democratic country and an autocratic regime in handling the pandemic.” Many people in China are afraid to admit that they have been infected because they don’t know what the government might do to them afterward.
Also, the Communist regime reduced the number of Chinese visitors to Taiwan as a punishment to Taiwan for re-electing Tsai Ing-Wen as the President. This helped Taiwan to contain the pandemic.
Related postings on Chinascope:
- “World Leader”: Beijing Released a Documentary “The Lockdown: One Month in Wuhan”
- “World Leader”: Beijing Is Thinking Creating a Beijing-led World Health Organization to Replace WHO
- “World Leader”: Commentary by Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Leadership: The Hype and Stop of the Book “The Great Power Fighting Epidemic”
1. Excerpt in Chinese:
署名Brice Pedroletti的文章写道，虽然台湾靠近中国，而且有大量的台湾人居住在大陆，因此台湾应该非常容易受到新冠病毒的侵害，但是，拥有2350万居民的台湾却只有42个感染病例，只有1人死亡。
文章说，台湾这么好的成绩，不仅仅是因为台湾是一个岛，台湾吹嘘说，这是因为台湾非常迅速地实施了检测和追踪措施。自2月6日起，台湾就禁止中国大陆人入境台湾，而去过中国大陆、香港和澳门的非中国人则必须在家里进行隔离。
第二年，台湾建立了发生疫情时的“统一指挥”机制，这一机制于今年1月20日启动。该机制由现任卫生部长陈时中指挥，陈时中也自此成为了台湾最受欢迎的政治人物之一。方教授就台湾的“统一指挥”机制表示说，这个指挥机制的关键是，它是跨部门的，涉及交通、海关和教育。他还说，实施隔离是个好策略，但是，如果隔离措施太严格的话，它就会失败，在中国，人们一直害怕说自己感染病毒，因为他们不相信，也不知道如果这样做的话，会对自己造成什么样的影响。方教授还补充说，在台湾，是在尊重个人权利的情况下采取隔离措施。
法国世界报刊出的这篇文章还指出，中国游客抵制前往台湾旅游，也客观上有助于台湾对疫情的控制。
Source: Radio France International, March 6, 2020
http://www.rfi.fr/cn/港澳台/20200306-台湾希望成为对抗冠状病毒的榜样
2. Excerpt in Chinese:
3月3日在美国医学会杂志 (JAMA) 撰文向全球介绍台湾防疫手法的史丹佛大学医学院副教授王智弘 (Jason Wang) 告诉德国之声，台湾防疫成功的关键在于充分的准备与及早判定疫情的严重性。这两个条件让台湾能在疫情真正爆发前，便建立一套完整的防疫机制。他说：“台湾在挺过2002年的SARS疫情后，便在来年建立国家卫生指挥中心。这次新冠疫情爆发初期，台湾政府也立即启动国家卫生指挥中心，透过汇整全国各地信息与聚集各界专家来整合一套防疫机制。 ”
此外，王智弘也指出，台湾的《传染病防治法》让台湾在面临紧急疫情时，能赋予政府更多权力来动用国家资源抗疫。 他说其中一个关键是政府将高科技结合防疫工作，在疫情浮现初期，将国民健康保险数据与移民署的数据库做串连并推动大数据分析，让前线医护人员能依照病患的旅游史与临床症状判断警讯，让他们能实时识别病例。
王智弘向德国之声表示：“台湾政府除了有效运用高科技来推动防疫工作外，他们也让正在接受隔离的人感受到政府是关心他们的安危的。这种做法也让出现疑似症状的民众，更愿意主动提报。这是民主国家与专制国家在处理类似情形时最大的不同。 我认为民主国家应该更善加利用信息与科技，因为这么做才能将民众引导至适当的地方就诊，并适时追踪个案。 ”
除了政府积极在疫情早期建立防疫机制外，美国奥勒冈州立大学 (Oregon State University) 公共卫生与人文科学学院的教授Chunhuei Chi告诉德国之声。他认为，台湾人民愿意遵从政府所制定的各项隔离措施与防疫政策，也是台湾能够彻底执行防疫程序的关键。
Source: Deutsche Welle, March 10, 2020
https://www.dw.com/zh/台湾防疫经验受瞩目-专家称民主是关键/a-52700453