Former Taiwan VP speaks at Biden's Global COVID-19 Summit

According to [Taiwan News], a month after the release of Washington's report on the origins of COVID-19, which left a number of riddles unanswered, U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday (Sept. 22) convened a summit of leaders, at which Taiwanese Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) was invited to deliver a speech.

"Taiwan is determined to work with people around the globe to end the pandemic and build back a better world," said Chen.

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Taiwan’s former VP Chen thanks 6 ally countries for their vaccine donations. (Photo / Provided by MOFA)

The epidemiologist-turned-politician was invited to speak at the virtual coronavirus summit, which was attended by heads of state as well as leaders from international organizations, the private sector, philanthropies, and NGOs.

In the speech, Chen thanked the U.S., Japan, Lithuania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland for sharing vaccines with Taiwan in support of the country's fight against the pandemic. He also recognized the U.S.' commitment to helping end the pandemic, lauding Biden's call to vaccinate the world.

Chen proceeded to elaborate on how the "Taiwan Model" of modern democracy can work well in the fight against the pandemic, citing transparent governance and technological innovations. He stated that the country will continue to work with the U.S. and other like-minded partners to bring the pandemic to an end, including through a plan to contribute to the upcoming U.S.-led global health security financial intermediary fund.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Taiwan has given out over 54 million medical masks to over 80 countries, along with other medical supplies in need, he pointed out.

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Taiwan was invited to participate in the “Global COVID19 Summit”. (Photo / Provided by MOFA)

At the summit, Biden called on leaders to boost their ambition to end the pandemic by 2022 and prepare for future ones. He also announced the donation of an additional half a billion Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 doses to poorer countries, in line with his pledge to enhance equitable access to vaccines and save lives around the world.

According to [Taiwan News], in August, U.S. agencies lamented that a definitive conclusion about the origins of the virus is unlikely to be reached if China continues to obscure how the virus first emerged.