National Review
Date: May 14, 2020
By: Jay Nordlinger
Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen (left) listens to a soldier on a military base in Tainan, southern Taiwan, April 9. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)
In the middle of the 20th century, there was an expression: “He had a good war.” It was unseemly, maybe, but everyone knew what the expression meant: The person in question had come out of World War II in good shape — even advantaged. In the same way, we might say that Taiwan is having a good pandemic.
Those words are terrible to type, but readers may indulge them.
Taiwan is enjoying good press all over the world, for its handling of the crisis. One headline reads, “Taiwan’s Coronavirus Moment.” Lots of headlines speak of “lessons” to be learned from Taiwan. The phrase “Taiwan model” is in the air. It is used by the U.S. State Department, for example.
So, Taiwan has been handed an excellent opportunity: an opportunity to earn recognition, good will, and sympathy. But there is a danger, and that danger is, as always, the government of the People’s Republic. This government claims Taiwan as a mere province of China. Taiwan has shown up the PRC in the pandemic — which makes the men in Beijing angry. [FULL STORY]
