Looking down at my phone over lunch, it buzzed with a new message from Taiwan's recently-viral Shiba Inu, Zongchai. It was a public broadcast message on Line from Taiwan's Center for Disease Control in which Zongchai, wearing rounded hipster glasses, cutely reminded me to "keep a social distance of one and a half meters indoors and one meter outdoors, and wear a mask if keeping distance is not possible". I chuckled and contemplated who came up with the idea to use a cuddly dog as a mascot in the fight against a deadly virus.

Seeing a witty anthropomorphic dog deliver public health advisories is a sharp departure from the sensational US election-related political memes that have flooded my social media feeds over the past year. Of course, the factors behind Taiwan's success in handling COVID-19 include quarantine policies, contact tracing, medical equipment management, and more, but it's hard to overstate how much cleverly devised marketing campaigns promoting public cooperation and cohesion have contributed to Taiwan's domestic success.

Internationally, however, Taiwan's story faces a sisyphean battle. The bad news is, western pundits ignorantly attribute East Asian countries' success in battling COVID to a nebulous set of "Confucian Values", the same incoherent trope they've used to explain everything in East Asia for decades. Taiwan's government-organized contact tracing programs are dismissed as "dystopian" or "privacy invading", supposedly unattainable in western countries that have already built the same infrastructure in the name of counter-terrorism. In a time when the global community should be coming together to help each other address the pandemic, organizations representing global unity such as the WHO place politics over health, kowtowing to Xi and Trump.

The good news is, The COVID-era has catapulted Taiwan to notoriety on a global stage. A quick Google search for the keywords "Taiwan" and "COVID-19" reveals multiple articles analyzing Taiwan's successful domestic pandemic response as well as Taiwan's international programs shipping surgical masks to the rest of the world. Even though Taiwan remains closed off to international tourism, many artists, researchers, and diplomats have made their way to Taiwan during this time, hosting in-person events and meetings that would risk super-spreader environments anywhere else. As the United States and China continue to inharmoniously clash over everything from trade, human rights, free press, democracy, and public health, Taiwan has fortuitously received many of the China correspondents after their Chinese press visas were cancelled.

Beyond the ubiquitous mask wearing and quotidian temperature checks, it's hard to overstate how normal life in Taiwan is, boring even. Baxian Grill (八仙熱炒), an eatery serving quick, stir-fried Taiwanese dishes, continues to be a popular gathering spot for locals and foreigners to shoot the breeze. Over plates of fried squid beaks, bowls of stewed stinky tofu, and glasses of "18 Days" Taiwan Beer, my friends and colleagues commiserate, pontificating over what the events of this year mean for the short and medium term future, and how things will play out for Taiwan.

Taiwan is one of the few countries that will see its GDP increase this year, prompting many observers to praise the "Taiwan Model" of pandemic response and economic stimulus as a way forward for the world. For many Taiwanese, international travel restrictions means that domestic tourism has increased, preventing the hospitality industry from collapsing as locals flock to Taiwan's outer islands such as Kinmen, Lanyu, and Matsu.

It's been nearly a year since I've sunk into a flimsy airplane seat and watched movies until numbness consumed my legs. I've missed my sister's graduation, friends' weddings, and the year-end holidays. Even for those who have thus-far avoided a direct confrontation with COVID, learning to live with its implications has been challenging, isolating, and depressing. My family, who lost my grandma over the summer, had to commemorate her life over a video stream, unable to be physically present in Taiwan. 

Simultaneously, thanks to the Internet and the current renaissance of video conferencing applications, I've been able to hear from friends and family on a semi-regular basis. Through these virtual gatherings, I've heard the ways my friends live vigilantly day-to-day in fear of COVID-19, have a contingency plan if they test positive, or have had it already.

As the US reels from the fallout of a third coronavirus wave, there is finally some good news of an impending vaccine that is finally around the corner. Given how badly the US has bungled it's pandemic response, I can only pray that vaccine distribution is efficient, effective, and affordable. Until then, it's up to everyone to limit travel, wear a mask, wash our hands, and be kind to each other.

Perhaps life in Taiwan these days is best described as a safe refuge. A place that, although far from perfect, has implemented the necessary precautions, preparation, and public support to protect its public health and democratic institutions. It's one of the few places on earth that organized a pride parade in 2020, using its COVID-free bubble to celebrate the relatively recent milestone of becoming the first country to adopt marriage equality in Asia. To all the public health experts, frontline workers, and citizens that have allowed Taiwan to address the epidemic of a lifetime, Thank you.

About the author：

Daniel is currently a graphics engineer building digital news visualizations for Commonwealth Magazine. He has spent his career working at news organizations including the New York Times and The News Lens. He enjoys using digital mediums to help readers better understand the complex problems facing society, and believes that newsrooms are among the most conducive environments to experimentation, development, and creativity. Daniel is a Taiwanese-Californian currently living in Taipei. Daniel has a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the University of California San Diego.

Have you read?

♦ Taiwan’s Health Tech success lies in Global South Collaboration
♦ The Pandemic is a Reminder We Should Learn to Do Better with Less
♦ Taiwan’s Impressive Response to COVID-19: A Personal View

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