Taiwan: Democracy, technology, and civil society

This chapter analyzes Taiwan’s legal and policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Given Taiwan’s geographical proximity and close economic ties with China, the initial epicentre of coronavirus, it was estimated to be hit hard by the global pandemic. Yet, defying these predictions, Taiwan maintained a considerably low number of confirmed cases and exhibited no sign of community spread. Taiwan’s near-miraculous achievement in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic proved that a democracy can successfully contain the spread of the virus. What this global pandemic reveals is that only a more transparent and responsive government can effectively deal with a public health crisis and other than legal rules, government capacity, the strength of the science and technology sector, and the vitality of civil society and local community are equally-if not more-important in forging a collective effort.