Bangkok, March 1 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been named as one of the world's 24 extraordinary women by a Thai newspaper Monday, citing her leadership in containing the coronavirus outbreak in Taiwan and her government's promotion of gender equality.
The English-language Bangkok Post praised the Tsai administration's quick response following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak at the start of 2020.
"Under Ms Tsai's leadership, Taiwan had gone more than 200 days without a locally acquired COVID-19 case," said the article titled "Tsai's leadership makes its mark in Taiwan."
The paper attributed the successful containment to the government's launch of "one of the world's most effective pandemic response protocols."
It included "preparing to close borders, imposing travel restrictions, and setting up rigorous contact tracing and quarantine protocols."
Meanwhile, as the first female head of state in Taiwan's history, Tsai is also popular among young people for legalizing same-sex marriage in 2019, making Taiwan the first country in Asia to allow same-sex marriage, the report said.
"Many people in Taiwan also see Ms Tsai's presidency as a sign of the improving status of women in Taiwan."
Asked to comment, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said Tsai's inclusion as one of the world's 24 extraordinary women represents the achievement of the whole country and not her alone.
The president thanked everyone in Taiwan for their joint efforts in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that being named in the list shows again that Taiwan has been recognized by the world, according to Chang.
According to the Bangkok Post, Thailand's second oldest newspaper, the 24 extraordinary women have been named as the Bangkok Post's Women of the Year to mark International Women's Day on March 8.
"The women we have chosen to honor represent a wide range of fields, from national and international leadership, fashion, retail, arts and culture, finance and security, the digital realm, food, media, hospitality, real estate, science and sport," the paper said.
On the first Monday of March, the Bangkok Post honored Tsai, Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) of Myanmar, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya of Thailand.
The newspaper will announce the rest of the list in stages every Monday in March.
https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202103010010
