ABSTRACT
To date, Taiwan has successfully controlled the COVID-19 pandemic without serious restrictive measures or any lockdowns. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Taiwan has been careful in formulating policies and issuing measures to balance the need for pandemic control and the maintenance of human rights protection, democracy and the rule of law. This chapter analyses how Taiwan has achieved success in pandemic control despite its barred access to the World Health Organisation and its geographic proximity and close economic ties to China. It is argued that legal preparedness after the 2003 SARS epidemic helped to some extent, but other than law, a comprehensive national healthcare system with affordable care, a high level of digital technology with cautious application, and a vibrant civil society actively engaged in the regulatory process and pandemic control were pivotal. In addition, the key mechanism keeping governmental power under control was a model of ‘dialogic constitutionalism’ that served to channel and initiate open and vibrant political dialogues with horizontal and vertical separations of powers between various government branches and, more importantly, between the government and wider society.
