Taiwan is a beautiful democracy with a prosperous economy, located in Southeast Asia.
More than 10,000 Israeli tourists travel each year to welcoming Taiwan and enjoy the abundance it has to offer.
Taiwan has made headlines lately after it successfully reined in the spread of coronavirus.
While Taiwan was supposed to become a major hotspot of the virus outbreak due to its extensive economic ties with China, geographical proximity (only 100 miles from mainland China), and hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese living in the neighboring country, Taiwan has successfully managed to stop the epidemic, without locking down the economy and without stopping the school year.
Of the 23 million people living on the Taiwanese island, only 440 cases were confirmed, of which, 372 patients have already been discharged, and 7 patients have succumbed to COVID-19.
The major reasons behind this success are forward planning, tight border control, and a strong public health system.
Israeli media praised the Taiwanese wonder - Israeli politicians and experts from all corners of the political spectrum praised it for preventing the spread of the disease by its use of surveillance technology while respecting the rights of the individual, and often giving it as an example of success in the global struggle.
In addition to properly and accurately managing the health crisis, Taiwan has continued to help other countries to fight the virus by donating equipment and medical supplies, including donating 100,000 surgical masks to Magen David Adom.
However, despite all of the above, Taiwan is barred from the World Health Organization!
It doesn't make sense, it's not fair, it's unjustified, and it's clearly unacceptable.
schoolchildren
In recent years, Taiwan has been banned from participating in both the annual World Health Assembly and WHO meetings. The reasons for this are purely political.
Next week, the World Health Assembly will convene in Geneva and Taiwan, with all its expertise and experience alongside its proven success, must take part in this global meeting.
Diseases know no boundaries and the whole world must fight together against the plague. Taiwan can help the world deal with the crisis.
Because we're all in the same boat, together - and no one, certainly not Taiwan, should be left behind.
Paul K. Chang is a Taiwanese ambassador to Israel