Geopolitical Tensions, Rise of a "Digital Democracy" and Human Rights Implications

Due to the unique geopolitical relationship between Taiwan and China, Taiwan’s isolated status as a non-member State of the World Health Organisation (WHO), its geographic isolation, and its experience with the 2003 SARS outbreak, the Taiwanese government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by implementing strict border controls and extensive contact tracing measures, even though it did not implement a lockdown. This memo provides an overview of how geopolitics, involving international political tussles and international status concerns, played a prominent role in COVID-19 governance in Taiwan, in contrast to Finland and Sweden, where geopolitical factors were not so prominent in defining their approaches.