Taiwan is a model for the world in handling the COVID-19 virus. However, the island of 20 million people is not recognized by the World Health Organization, nor does it have a diplomatic relationship with most countries—including the United States—because Beijing has declared it as part of China and has prevented any high-level diplomatic efforts with Taiwan.
However, on March 28, a U.S. ambassador visited Taiwan, becoming the first U.S. ambassador to visit Taiwan in the past 40 years. And surprisingly, this time the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) gave a softer diplomatic response than it normally would have.