How Trustworthy is China when it comes to the Coronavirus?

Commentary by ROC (Taiwan)

In the wake of the new coronavirus outbreak originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the whole world is vigilant about China’s inept and opaque way of managing the epidemic. So far, there have been over 65,000 confirmed cases and 1,700 deaths, mostly in China. More than five provinces and 80 metropolises in China, including the capital city of Beijing and major economic hubs such as Shanghai, Guanzhou and Shenzhen have been quarantined, with more than 400 million Chinese people completely shut off from the outside world.

Public health requires public trust. Autocracy breeds bureaucratic inertia and irresponsibility. It also prevents truth from being revealed. And it was China’s autocratic form of governance that has led to the sweeping spread of the epidemic. Had Chinese Communist Party officials in Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei Province been more forthcoming and proactive about the real situation back in December 2019, the new type of coronavirus could have been better managed and contained.

When the Chinese government finally acknowledged the severity of the epidemic and sealed off Wuhan City on 23 January this year, more than five million citizens had already fled the city to all parts of China, many of whom carried the virus. Even then, the Chinese government exerted much of its influence and efforts not to share relevant information but to conceal it from the world. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), collaborated with China and deliberately played down the threat of the pandemic. Against better judgment of governments around the world, he even advised them not to take timely preventive measures such as travel restrictions to and from China. As a result, public health and well-being of the whole world were jeopardized by the world health body for political convenience. 

Worse still, China has long abused its political influence by blocking Taiwan’s participation in key international organizations such as the WHO. Taiwan’s health officials and experts have been denied access to vital and timely information about this new type of pandemic from the WHO. At the same time, China continued to dispatch bombers to cruise around Taiwan and threaten the Taiwanese people. The world wonders why China still has the time and energy to play political games when the world should be working together to combat the cross-border pandemic.

By contrast, the Wuhan Coronavirus has been timely and properly managed and contained in Taiwan. So far there have been 18 confirmed cases there, most of which were imported from China with the exception of 3 cases of cross-infection within the family. All the patients have been quarantined at the border or upon confirmation. There is no risk of community infection in Taiwan. 

Being one of the few countries to have successfully implemented Universal Health Care (UHC), Taiwan is capable and willing to contribute to global health security, as has been demonstrated by its medical cooperation with Saint Lucia over the years and the recent cooperation between the two countries to manage the outbreak of Wuhan Coronavirus. Taiwan’s pragmatic and constructive participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as well as other WHO mechanisms, meetings and activities will surely help advance the right to health and wellbeing of people around the world. 

The recent outbreak of Wuhan Coronavirus has highlighted the importance and urgency of the WHO to ensure full involvement of Taiwan in the international consultations, planning and decision making to monitor, control and halt further spread of the epidemic. It is incumbent upon the international community to help safeguard global health by helping Taiwan obtain its voice and presence at the world health body.