The swine flu pandemic could last up to two years and affects over 2 billion people world-wide reported World Health Organization chief Keiji Fukuda last Thursday, adding that the historical record of flu pandemics indicates one-third of the world's population gets infected in such outbreaks.  "If we do move into a pandemic, then our expectation is that we will see a large number of people infected worldwide," Fukuda said. "If you look at past pandemics, it would be a reasonable estimate to say perhaps a third of the world's population would get infected with this virus."

It is perhaps for such outbreaks that Taiwan has to be thankful of finally being granted observer status at the World Health Organization’s governing body.  Since 1997, Taiwan had been unsuccessful in its pursuit of WHO membership, but finally on April 28, Taiwan was formally invited by the WHO to take part as an observer in the upcoming World Health Assembly set to be held on May 18 in Geneva.

How did Ma go about it in the face of such stiff opposition in the past from the mainland?

He attributed this long overdue step as a result of his administration’s pragmatic and flexible diplomatic approach. “This achievement signifies that the people of Taiwan are united in their desire to play a greater role in international organizations,” Ma said April 30.

“Participating in WHO activities is not simply a political issue; rather, it is a human rights one involving the rights of Taiwan’s 23 million people to full medical protection.  In ending the cutthroat struggle between the two sides in the international area, Beijing has responded by taking a pragmatic view concerning Taiwan’s WHO involvement,” Ma said.

After a year of persistent effort by President Ma Ying-jeou, the results are making headlines: Taipei and Beijing have held three rounds of high-level talks inking numerous agreements that herald a substantial reduction in cross-strait tensions, and Taiwan has gained observer status at the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization. Taiwan is forging solutions that are getting things moving forward once more.

How does Taiwan sustain this positive momentum? For President Ma, it is essential to focus more on the economic future that can be built and less on the political past that cannot be changed. During a recent teleconference to mark the 30th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, the president offered a fresh geographical perspective for rethinking Taiwan’s economic potential.

Taiwan happens to be located at the perfect geographical nexus, and is a natural trade and finance crossroads between the United States across the Pacific Ocean to the east, Japan to the north, the Chinese mainland to the west, and ASEAN nations to the south. As Asia grows in global economic importance and influence, Taiwan has much to offer at the very heart of all the economic action, but first must work to integrate itself more closely with the region’s economic engines to attain its full potential as a natural springboard for regional investment and trade.

President Ma sees potential in the status quo favored by most people in Taiwan to foster the kind of pragmatic economic interconnections by which Taiwan can capitalize upon its niche trading, finance and R&D advantages to the benefit of Taiwan, the Asia-Pacific region, and the global economy.

His fresh geographical perspective envisions pragmatic, non-political economic integration with Taiwan’s natural trade and finance partners in the short term, while allowing the goodwill and enhanced mutual understanding stemming from improved cross-strait ties to provide the future perspective for dealing with Beijing over currently intractable sovereignty issues.

With each step forward in cross-strait ties, Taiwan will be able to concentrate increasingly on becoming a global innovation center, integrating technological innovation into economic policy, and exploiting its pivotal location to become a multinational hub for business headquarters, core financial services and a transshipment staging platform.

Now is the time for Taiwan to forge its economic future in the entire Asia-Pacific region by focusing more on geography and less on history. President Ma astutely senses that, with a government economic policy pragmatically focused on the future and cross-strait ties improving, the irrepressible spirit behind the Taiwan “economic miracle” of a decade ago will once again find traction and restore a sense of control over a future widely desired by the Taiwan public.