Editor’s Note: This is an expanded version of a piece we have published in the current issue of National Review.

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE I n the middle of the 20th century, there was an expression: “He had a good war.” It was unseemly, maybe, but everyone knew what the expression meant: The person in question had come out of World War II in good shape — even advantaged. In the same way, we might say that Taiwan is having a good pandemic.

Those words are terrible to type, but readers may indulge them.

Taiwan is enjoying good press all over the world, for its handling of the …