COVID-19 is Taiwan’s Ticket to Increased Global Standing
Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), is an island to the southeast of mainland China. Although the island has been governed independently from the mainland for over seventy years, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) views it as a Chinese province and asserts that Taiwan is bound by the 1992 Consensus between the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang (KMT) political party of Taiwan, which stated that there is only “one China” and Taiwan is an inalienable part of it.
The current leadership disagrees sharply about this issue of sovereignty. Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s current president, rejected the consensus in a January 2019 speech. Other leaders in her party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have voiced similar sentiments. While the island’s KMT party still accepts the consensus, it is clear that the nation is leaving the door open for possible future independence. Approximately one year later, in January 2020, Tsai was reelected in a record-breaking landslide vote over the Pro-Beijing KMT party.
Taiwanese leaders view formal diplomatic relations as an essential piece to surviving separately from mainland China. Since Tsai’s initial election in 2016, eight countries have severed diplomatic ties with the island in favor of Beijing, leaving only fifteen states with official diplomatic relations.
The United States has had informal diplomatic relations with Taiwan since the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979. The current administration has been seen as the most Pro-Taiwan in United States history and has deepened ties with the island through arms deals and an embassy. President Donald Trump approved the first fighter-jet sale since 1992 and is the first U.S. leader to speak directly with a Taiwanese leader since 1979. Now, the COVID-19 crisis is strengthening this relationship further.
Just last month (March 2020), President Donald Trump signed the TAIPEI Act (Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative), which states that the United States should support Taiwan as it strengthens its alliances around the world and endures “bullying tactics” by Beijing. According to the bill, the United States should advocate for Taiwan’s membership or observer status in all international organizations that do not require statehood. The COVID-19 global health threat has pushed membership in the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Health Organization (WHO) to the forefront of this initiative. Taiwan previously had observer status for the WHO starting in 2009, but this status was revoked after Tsai’s election in 2016. The United States, with the support of Japan and Canada, has repeatedly clashed with China over the exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO.
Taiwan’s success with managing COVID-19 offers a unique opportunity to garner more international support. The strict, early steps that the island took to stem the spread of the virus have been so effective that this method has been referred to as the “Taiwan Model.” The United States has repeatedly praised Taiwan, and the State Department has even asserted that “countries around the world can benefit from better understanding the ‘Taiwan Model,’ as well as the generous contributions and impressive expertise Taiwan . . . brings to the global community.” Additionally, the island is now producing almost 15 million protective face masks daily and has the world’s second-biggest supplier of the medical-grade masks, behind China. It has announced a bilateral agreement to allow masks to be sent to the United States, as well as a plan to donate 7 million masks to European countries.
As the global health crisis continues, Taipei is increasingly being looked to as a positive example, a helper, and a leader. There is no doubt that its proactive response to the virus and impressive mask production have increased the small nation’s soft power on a global scale.
