TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) on Saturday (April 25) spoke with his alma mater Johns Hopkins University via webcast to share Taiwan's successful experience in epidemic prevention.

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a Facebook post that Brent Christensen, director of the de-facto embassy, also joined the online event, called "Inside Taiwan's response to COVID-19," and pointed out that Taiwan was a true friend to the U.S., according to CNA.

Chen took the time to chat with scholars from the university’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. As the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a full-fledged pandemic, he said that no country could fight it alone and that Taiwan was actively cooperating with other countries in that fight.

The AIT said Chen had accepted his alma mater's invitation to share the SARS epidemic in 2003, when he served as minister of health. AIT also mentioned that Christensen stated in his opening speech that “It is this moment that gives a new layer of meaning to the US-Taiwan relationship. We call it: ‘True friend, true progress.’"

The representative office emphasized that the U.S. hopes to cooperate with the island nation to promote the successful ‘Taiwan model’ of epidemic prevention. In a TIME article published on April 16, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wrote that the Taiwan model was not only effective but also a product of the democratic system.