Taiwanese YouTuber posts open letter to WHO

Excluding Taiwan from WHO could make it a 'blind spot': Taiwanese YouTuber

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/02/11
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A popular Taiwanese YouTuber on Monday (Feb. 10) issued an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) calling on it to allow Taiwan to enter the organization at least as an observer as Taiwan stands on the frontlines of the battle against the Wuhan virus.

Ray Du (都省瑞), co-founder of popular YouTube channel Ray Du English, which has nearly 2.5 million subscribers, on Monday uploaded a video titled "An open letter to the World Health Organization (from Taiwan)." Du began by pointing out that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, seven American senators, and the EU, have all backed Taiwan's participation in the group since the outbreak of the Wuhan virus began.

Du said that "disease knows no boundaries" and argued that Taiwan's participation in the organization is critical for both Taiwan and the outside world. Du said that because the disease has already spread to many countries around the world, excluding Taiwan from the organization could make it a "blind spot" in the international response to the illness.

He argued that if Taiwan had been included in the WHO during the SARS break out, the country might have been able to prevent the 73 deaths attributed to the sickness. Du then said that "Taiwan can help" because the country's health care system is frequently lauded as one of the best in the world with standards that are on a par with top countries.    [FULL  STORY]