Former Vice President Chen Chien-jen represented Taiwan at the virtual Global COVID-19 Summit convened Sept. 22 by U.S. President Joe Biden from the White House, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Held on the sidelines of the U.N.’s 76th General Assembly in New York City, the summit was attended by leaders and representatives from 180 countries, as well as international and nongovernmental organizations.
Chen said during the summit that Taiwan has launched four waves of international humanitarian assistance since the onset of the pandemic. The country’s public-private sector partnership has enabled it to donate over 54 million medical masks and supplies to more than 80 countries, he added.
The Taiwan Model shows how a modern democracy can work transparently and use technology to combat coronavirus, Chen said, adding the government will continue to cooperate with the U.S. and other like-minded partners in sharing its disease-fighting expertise.
According to Chen, Taiwan supports Biden’s goal of vaccinating the world, and will seek to contribute to the global health security financial intermediary fund that the U.S. plans to establish later this year.
Chen also took the opportunity to thank the Czechia, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and the U.S. for sharing vaccines with Taiwan to support the country’s COVID-19 fightback. The much-needed doses saved lives and helped safeguard democratic values, he said.
According to the MOFA, this is the second time Taiwan has been invited by the U.S. to take part in a pandemic-related summit. The first was the “Strengthening Africa’s Resilience and Response to Ebola Virus” virtual held in March.
In a tweet on its official Twitter account, the MOFA said “Former VP Chen flew the flag for #Taiwan at the Global #COVID19 Summit held by @POTUS on the sidelines of #UNGA. He answered the call to embrace core objectives aimed at ending the pandemic, thanked the country’s many friends & shared the #TaiwanModel.” (SFC-E)
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