Bye.

OK.

Yes.

Thank you very much for this time, minister. I think the German government will be very impressed, and they are very curious about your answers. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

…or was the virus, perhaps, created in a laboratory?

One last question. Please allow me one last question. Very short, but it’s about the beginning of the whole thing. Does the Taiwanese government think the whole thing started on a market in Wuhan…

Oh. OK, thank you.

OK.

Excuse me? What’s the sign of? This low willingness is a sign of…?

Katharin.

Got it.

That’s not much though.

After one year of the pandemic for Western democracies, it’s still very difficult to fight against the virus. The rates, the numbers are higher. The death rate is very high, too high compared to other countries or other regions. For Western democracies, it’s very difficult. During this last year, what ...

Some critics, specifically, charged that Taiwan was only able to combat COVID 19 by building a so called 24 hour surveillance state. What do you think about this argument?

As Katharin already mentioned, the criticism in Germany is that we can’t copy, or can’t replicate the Taiwanese strategy because of different things. It’s an island, as we already discussed, because it’s culturally Asian, because it’s different, because Asian governments are more autocratic, or because the weather in Taiwan is ...

Again, the question, but in another order. Could Taiwan be a shining example to follow for other countries?

Yeah.

Last question, here from Germany in this moment. When we are at the beginning of this pandemic decade or century, as I mentioned, what does it mean for a democratic society when you have to think that the next waves will come? What was the impact for a democratic society?

…or in 10, then we have the next pandemic, so it’s not a once in lifetime situation.

When it starts, a 3.0 in one year, or in…?

It’s not a once in a lifetime pandemic? Perhaps we are at the beginning of a pandemic decade or century?

Have I understood you right? You think that there will be a COVID 3.0?

This trip quarantine system is a topic in Germany too. We discuss it, as it wouldn’t be possible to implement such a strategy in Germany. How did the Taiwanese government convince its people that adhering to this rules, to these measures, was the best course of action? How did you ...

I missed [laughs] the last 30 seconds. It’s OK.

[laughs]

No, it’s great. Thank you. I understood everything and it’s very interesting, thank you.

No, not the vaccines, not the next step in strategy. During the last year, we had this discussion in Germany. When we didn’t have the vaccines, we had a discussion in Germany, “Should we eradicate the virus, like Taiwan did, or other countries did?” or “Have we to deal with ...

Sorry?

Yes, just one question. I cut in because this question is very important for our German readers, because German politicians say, “If you plan to eradicate the virus, you have to deal with it. You have to live with the virus. It’s impossible to get the numbers down to zero.” ...

Quite personal.

Katharin will start with the first question because it’s a very personal question.

We would like to talk about the situation in Taiwan, about the situation in Germany, and if it’s possible to compare both situations or strategies. Katharin, who is a journalist working for us, has prepared everything. She’s doing the interview, and I’m just [laughs] asking a few questions because she’s ...

Thank you for having the opportunity to doing this interview with you, Minister Tang.

I hear you wherever you are. Thank you. Do you hear me too?

Nice to meet you.

Here I am. Hi, Katharin?