Trump Diagnosed with Coronavirus: Do Taiwanese Still Rely on "Temperament" to Combat the Pandemic？
United Daily News Editorial, October 3, 2020
The closely watched United States presidential election certainly delivered an unexpected October Surprise—not a crisis in the Taiwan Strait but an outbreak in the White House. In the first week of October, the world learned of President Donald Trump’s diagnosis with coronavirus (COVID-19), along with that of the First Lady and key members of his inner circle. This news has shaken up the election and respective campaign schedules, if possible, adding more chaos and attracting even more global attention.
As of the announcement, the United States has recorded nearly 7.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, over 200,000 deaths, and a daily average of 40,000 new cases. Who precisely is to blame for the state of affairs has been a question of great contention, leading to charged accusations flying back and forth during the first televised presidential debate of 2020.
The debate stood out as an unprecedented show of conflict. Battles raged over healthcare: what President Trump’s Supreme Court justice nominee will mean for the state of healthcare, the broader viability of Obamacare, the downplaying of the seriousness of the pandemic, the mismanagement of the reopening of the economy. The two candidates also disagree with how the pandemic will end, namely, when the vaccine will be available. Trump’s overly optimistic view of the vaccine timeline and more generally, his unbalanced treatment of Americans of different income levels during his presidency, but especially during this time of crisis, have drawn criticism from former Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and others.
President Trump countered critics with the assertion that things could have been worse without his leadership, that his response to China and his management of the reopening timeline meant less deaths and a more robust economic recovery. For good measure, he also mocked Biden’s use of a mask during public appearances.
In this chaotic debate with near constant interruptions, the world can see parallels with America’s general handling of the pandemic. No matter how the president might redistribute blame, to China or to local governments, his outright disbelief of science, rejection of masks, and disorganized and hasty management style has squarely put him at the center of the crisis. His responsibility for the chaos and death toll cannot be downplayed or minimized.
Other world leaders who contracted the coronavirus, Brazilian President Posonaro and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have also been accused of mismanagement. Johnson’s bout of coronavirus was followed by active policies to control the spread and more restrictions. At the age of 74 and now having personally experienced the virus it remains to be seen whether President Trump will change his attitude towards public health policy or more firmly place the blame on China even more.
The news of President Trump's illness has focused the world’s attention also on American political mechanisms. How will the election be impacted by Trump’s now restricted campaign schedule? How will Biden be impacted? While the majority of American voters have already decided on their candidate, it is unclear if Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis will change any minds.
In the case of Taiwan however, there is still something further to consider about the aftermath of President Trump’s illness. On the political level, the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen has bet on Trump in an all-round way, and now that even more uncertainty has entered the U.S. election, Taiwan's future is even more uncertain. In terms of policies on epidemic prevention, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, who heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), said that Taiwan's good “temperament” can defeat the virus, which is as ridiculous as Trump's recommended injections of bleach. Spokesman Chuang Jen-hsiang of the CECC pointed out that the likely cause of Trump’s infection is his noncompliant mask use. Accordingly, he has urged our citizens to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing. However, people are growing complacent even while the vaccine is still far off. We can only wonder, when the second wave of epidemic strikes, are the people of Taiwan really going to rely only upon “good temperament?”