Taiwan Cannot Exclude Foreigners in Its Fight Against the Coronavirus

The novel coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, with new cases being reported every day in different parts of the world. With more than 17,000 confirmed cases in the United States and with the virus reaching every continent except Antarctica, panic has become widespread.

The declaration made earlier this month by World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus about its estimated 3.4 percent death rate has caused some confusion regarding how deadly this virus actually is. We don’t know yet. A new study in the journal Nature Medicine, which observed cases in Wuhan, estimates the death rate as less than 1 percent, although the global rate has ranged between 2 and 4 percent thus far. While we do not yet know how deadly the coronavirus will be, we do know our collective actions are crucial to combating an outbreak that threatens to disrupt society in a manner no event has since World War II.

It is now, more than ever, that the world needs to come together to fight this health crisis. Taiwan is no exception. It cannot fall into a false sense of security with the knowledge that many new coronavirus cases are imported. Those people—Taiwanese and foreigners—are here now, and the country must ensure they quarantine, get tested, and do not spread the virus locally.

From the start, and due to the fact that the virus originated in China, there have been many reported incidents of racism and xenophobia towards Asians in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Last month, a social media post of a Singaporean student who was beaten in the streets of London caused global outrage. Another case of coronavirus motivated racism was reported in a subway train in New York City, where a man started spraying an Asian-American fellow passenger with air freshener. Such cases have surged in the past week as the U.S. and Europe have begun to confront the coronavirus, and they will likely continue.

Fear of the unknown is understandable to an extent, but this is not something that should be used as an excuse for discriminating behaviors to be normalized.  

The negative effects of this coronavirus induced panic have not only been felt by the Asian community, but also by the foreign community in Taiwan. On Wednesday, Taiwan announced that it was banning the entry of foreigners coming into the country with landing and tourist visas starting Thursday at 12 a.m. It made clear, however, that these measures would not affect residence permit holders, diplomats or migrant workers with valid work permits.

The measures were well received by many in the foreigner community residing in the country with alien resident certificates, and people in Taiwan have been overwhelmingly supportive of the move to close the borders and limit the number of imported cases from hard-hit areas.

However, the policy seemed to leave out a block of foreigners who rely on visitor visas, or visa waiver programs, to come in and out of the country while looking for a more permanent solution that allows them to legally stay in Taiwan. (Not all of these foreigners are “visa runners” working illegally: many are on job-seeking visas; transitioning from study to work; legally studying Mandarin on tourist or landing visas; or in other states of confusing yet legal visa limbo.) On Thursday, at least one French national was barred from entering the island after returning from Singapore in an attempt to extend his visa for another 90 days.

This generated a lot of anxiety among foreigners in Taiwan, with many wondering if there was anything that they could do to stay. Some of their stories were collected by Jenna Lynn Cody, author of the blog Lao Ren Cha, who detailed the different circumstances that many of them were going through and their desire to find a solution to stay in Taiwan, a place considered by many of them their second home. It seems that their concerns were listened to.

On Saturday morning, the government announced that “all travelers who entered Taiwan on or before March 21, 2020, on a visitor visa, a landing visa, or through a visa-waiver program and who have not overstayed their legal stay period will be granted an automatic 30-day extension.”

The announcement also said that no application was required, but the total period of stay in Taiwan cannot exceed 180 days. This came as a big relief for many foreigners whose visas were set to expire soon and that did not expect the ban to take effect so quickly.

Bartosz Ryś, acting head of the Polish Office in Taipei, said on Twitter that Taiwan’s decision was made upon the request of the European Union.

The decision showed that Taiwan listened to the concerns of foreigners in the country, along with their diplomatic missions and representative offices, and took into consideration the well being of all its residents, regardless of what status they might hold.

Taiwan has also introduced the Expanded Overstayers Voluntary Departure Program, which allows visa overstayers to turn in without risk of being detained, with no risk of an entry ban and with a minimum fine of NT$2000 (US$66)—a vast reduction to the usual fine for overstaying—to diminish the risk of people with symptoms not coming forward due to fear of retaliation.

This measure may be a positive step, but it still does not ensure undocumented workers and existing overstayers will not be deported should they visit hospitals to get tested. In January, South Korea’s Justice Ministry said in a statement that “immigration authorities will not collect information of undocumented immigrants who get tested for the virus, or inspect hospitals for such instances,” and encouraged them to visit hospitals should they have symptoms.

Taiwan has yet to do this. In February, an undocumented Indonesian caregiver who showed symptoms of the virus fled authorities out of a fear of deportation before being detained and testing positive for the coronavirus. Last week, an undocumented Indonesian man went to the hospital to get tested. He tested negative for the virus, but he, along with his wife and their two young children, were deported to Indonesia.

If Taiwan were to take a similar approach to South Korea, this would allow undocumented individuals to safely visit hospitals and get tested without fearing deportation—a move which would ensure that no individual in the country has any reason to fear being tested, thus diminishing the likelihood that undocumented workers and others overstaying their visas could inadvertently spread the virus.

Taiwan has done an outstanding job in handling this crisis, earning praise from international media and leaders around the world for its preventive measures. Its success in dealing with the coronavirus has prompted calls from allied countries like Honduras, Paraguay and Eswatini—along with countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the European Union—to allow Taiwan to participate in the WHO. The world is eager to learn about the measures Taiwan has put in place that have allowed it to keep its infection rate at a relatively low number compared to its regional neighbors.

At present, Taiwan has confirmed 153 cases of the novel coronavirus after a wave of mostly imported cases caused its total number to almost triple in one week. The new cases have put the country on edge, and Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center has worked to prevent widespread community transmission and contain the virus.

The success of its measures thus far, and in the weeks to come, are reliant on the collaboration of the residents of Taiwan—both citizens and foreigners. Taiwan must protect the rights and individual guarantees made to all residents to encourage them to continue to come forward if they believe they may have contracted the virus, and to encourage them to follow quarantine and self-health management rules.

President Tsai Ing-wen 蔡英文 said Thursday the people of Taiwan must remain calm and appreciative of others to withstand the next 14 days, which she called a “critical second stage in the epidemic response effort.”

In her speech, Tsai urged people not to blame others but instead show gratitude to medical personnel, manufacturers of medical supplies, and those in home quarantine or practicing self-health management. The message was clear: Taiwan must be united and vigilant to maintain the success it has had in combating the virus.

At times like this we must collectively find solutions to our common problems, and Taiwan is showing the world once again how to deal with this situation effectively, but with compassion. And steps voluntarily undertaken by individuals, such as social distancing, may prove to be one of the most powerful tools we can deploy both in Taiwan and globally.

Dealing with this health crisis should unite us, not tear us apart. (With social distancing, of course!)

(Cover photo by Chin Le Duc on Unsplash)