Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic is a significant event in world history and will continue to challenge governments around the world; Whereas current research shows the novel COVID–19 strain was first transmitted in China in late 2019 and the World Health Organization declared COVID–19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020; Whereas democracies have responded to the pandemic by sharing scientific information and medical resources internationally and remaining committed to the human rights and freedoms of their people; Whereas authoritarian regimes have taken advantage of the pandemic as an opportunity to centralize power, spread disinformation, expand their corrupt practices, or otherwise deny basic human rights to their people; Whereas democracies contribute to the construction of a vast network of international partnerships, authoritarian regimes see these partnerships as instruments to be exploited for unilateral benefit and for realizing their long-held vision of having these institutions under their direction; Whereas democracies share information transparently and ensure that journalists operate freely, authoritarian regimes manipulate the content journalists can share and organize disinformation through their state-controlled media systems; Whereas democracies have shown resilience during this global crisis by encouraging constructive debate, authoritarian regimes suppress internal criticisms, tightening their grip, giving their people yet more reason to resist; Whereas democracies have taken steps to ensure the health and safety of their people, authoritarian regimes have removed fundamental protections with no intention of returning basic, indispensable rights; Whereas Taiwan’s democratic government was among the first to recognize this new strain of the coronavirus and they chose to build an extensive and coordinated domestic response while seeking to share evidence of human-to-human transmission with the world, authoritarian regimes declined to share early evidence of the virus to mislead the world