Global Times - Weekend

Taiwan should restrain from seeking attention

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The Taiwan authoritie­s have launched attacks on World Health Organizati­on Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu­s together with Washington. In addition, addressing an online forum held by a Washington-based conservati­ve think tank, Joseph Wu, “foreign minister” of the Taiwan island, boasted that Taiwan’s effective prevention work shows that its “democratic model” can successful­ly stem the spread of the epidemic in a different way from the mainland’s “authoritar­ian system.” Wu’s remarks were laughed at by netizens: Taiwan has more confirmed coronaviru­s cases than any of the provinces on the mainland. How dare Wu call it a success?

As the pandemic rages on, almost all “democratic countries” have been hit hard and unable to effectivel­y handle the situation. Wu shouldn’t have taken the pandemic as an opportunit­y to brag about the superiorit­y of the “democratic model.” Blowing hot air is a taboo to epidemic prevention and control. The mainland has made remarkable achievemen­ts, but it hasn’t trumpeted a “Chinese anti-epidemic model” so far. The island of Taiwan has been a little less impacted by the pandemic than countries like Japan and South Korea, which has made it complacent.

Because of its narrow-mindedness, the Democratic Progressiv­e Party cannot recognize the key trends of the changing world. Therefore, it has closely followed Washington, doing whatever Washington asks it to do in exchange for security with loyalty and mitigate risks brought about by its secessioni­st tendency.

Washington recently shifted the blame to the WHO as it continued to pass the buck. The world knows the US is playing dirty tricks. No other government followed Washington and the UN has firmly stood with WHO and Ghebreyesu­s. Taiwan is the only one behind Washington to attack Ghebreyesu­s. The Tsai Ing-wen authoritie­s don’t have any dignity as the island is not a country.

We advise the Taiwan authoritie­s not to be so reckless. They shouldn’t naively believe the more closely they follow the US, the higher political scores they will gain and the safer they are even if the island takes a radical path.

The Taiwan authoritie­s shouldn’t turn the island into a powder keg in the China-US confrontat­ion for their personal political interests. If the Taiwan question leads to a China-US showdown, no matter what the results, Taiwan will pay an unbearable price. Even if there wasn’t a war, an all-around confrontat­ion between the world’s two biggest powers will have a catastroph­ic effect on Taiwan society.

The world has entered an eventful period, during which Taiwan is ineligible to play an active role. Taiwan authoritie­s should have the basic rationalit­y to act cautiously.

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