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With eye on China’s zero-Covid chaos, Taiwan seizes chance to open up


The tables at his eatery in Taiwan’s capital were bustling with diners, waiters buzzing with soups of squid and rice noodles, and chatter and laughter filled the air.

Chen considers himself lucky. Taiwan is allowing restaurants like his to remain open despite a wave of Covid infections – which hit more than 60,000 cases on Thursday alone – to sweep through the island.

Things could have been very different. Until recently, the island has taken a zero-tolering approach to the virus: Chen’s business was closed for more than two months during the last major outbreak in May 2021, dealing a blow on his staff – and his bottom line – causing him to leave. “hurt.”

“We were lucky to survive and move on from there,” he said.

But since then, the Taiwanese government has had to think deeply. What was until recently one of the last non-Covid organizations in the world has now shifted to a mindset of living with the virus – spurred on by the realization that even contact tracing and Even the most severe isolates are not suitable for the highly transmissible variant of Omicron, as demonstrated by Chaos unfolds across the Taiwan Strait in China

For Chen, it’s a welcome change that has ensured his business can continue relatively unaffected by the outbreak. While he remains concerned about the virus, he believes the best approach is to learn from other East Asian economies – such as Singapore – that have managed to navigate similar shifts in mindset.

“I think we need to overcome our fear and take each step carefully,” he said.

Oscar Chen, owner of Liang Xi Hao restaurant in central Taipei.

A story of two cities

Taiwan reopens in the complete opposite of Shanghai. There, in a desperate bid to cling to its no-Covid ideal, China is using ever more stringent measures to try to contain the Omicron outbreak that has infected hundreds of thousands of people. People.

Many neighborhoods in Shanghai, which has a sizable Taiwanese community, have been closed for weeks.

Strange angry confrontation scenes Between the residents of Shanghai and the police officers trying to coerce people received extensive coverage in the Taiwanese media, helping to sway public opinion on the island by issuing a reminder clear about the sacrifices required by the zero-Covid policy.

It’s a contrast not to be missed by Chen, whose brother lives in Shanghai.

“It’s been really hard for him. We don’t discuss it on the political front, but my brother has been quarantined for 45 days without being able to leave his house. At least he can. order takeaway – in some residential areas. can’t and they have to wait for the government to send supplies.”

The reopening of Taiwan further isolates China as perhaps the last major economy in the world still following the zero Covid policy. Even Hong Kong, which has long clung to this model in its bid to reopen its border with mainland China, is easing restrictions after a recent Omicron-driven wave brought the death rate to a halt. per capita spiked at a point Asia’s tallest.
That growing sense of isolation may only fuel further backlash against policy in Shanghai and other Chinese cities of detention, where frustration is growing at what appears to be like a never ending war. Even as this policy stifles the country’s economy, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has identified any proposal to give up, commit mirrored “unchanged”.
Jeff Huang, a Taipei resident who has lived in China for a few years, says it's only natural for Taiwan to be more open-minded as vaccination rates rise.

Lessons from Shanghai

Taiwan’s move to reopen is partly due to a desire to avoid exactly the same kind of scene play in shanghai – Taiwanese Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang described to reporters last week as “cruel” and not a model for Taiwan to follow.

It also reflects a recognition that the dawn of the Omicron variant leaves zero-Covid economies with a choice: either double down as China on ever stricter measures or use the opportunity. due to high vaccination rates to open doors.

Last month, President Tsai Ing-wen opted for the latter, declaring Taiwan would focus on ensuring as much normal life for its residents as possible, rather than aiming for zero infections.

Ironically, it is the freedom enjoyed by the island during its long Covid-free period that made that choice inevitable, said Chen Chien-jen, who served as Taiwan’s vice president from 2016 to 2020, said.

“For the past two years, people have enjoyed a very liberal life here – they live normally and go to work normally. So we don’t like city lockdowns or mass checks and we don’t think that it’s helpful to control the spread of the virus,” Chen said.

Instead, Chen, now an epidemiologist at Academia Sinica, said the milder variant presented an opportunity because it had “a very high infectivity, but a decent rate of severe illness and death. low” in vaccinated populations. So far, 18.8 million Taiwanese, or 79% of the population, have been fully vaccinated with two shots, according to Oxford University’s Our World in Data project.

“(Taiwanese) have seen lockdown situations in Shanghai, Zhengzhou and Beijing, and we don’t think it’s very difficult to use city door locks to prevent the Omicron variant.

Chen said Taiwan should now focus on increasing the coverage of Covid-19 boosters, as well as increasing the distribution of antiviral drugs and rapid diagnostic kits to the community.

The government’s decision was disseminated. Most residents who spoke to CNN said they felt Taiwan’s new Covid-19 approach was more appropriate than the strict lockdown measures imposed in mainland China.

Jeff Huang, a Taipei resident who has lived in mainland China for several years, feels it is impossible to eradicate the virus.

“If we still have severe restrictions like in the mainland (China) even after vaccination, it will be very painful and there will be no benefit from vaccination,” he said.

Taiwan's former vice president and epidemiologist Chen Chien-jen says zero-Covid is

A beacon of hope?

But if Taiwan’s approach is partly motivated by a desire to avoid a Shanghai-like fate, there are also optimists who wonder if it could have the opposite effect – bringing hope for China’s locked-down cities that there really is a way. out of the zero-Covid corner.

Chen Chien-jen, the vice president who led Taiwan’s initial Covid-19 response, said many Taiwanese were initially skeptical of abandoning the elimination strategy because it had been successful for so long in maintaining maintain low transmission rates in the community.

Taiwan has previously only experienced one major outbreak of Covid-19 – in May last year. That time it banned in-person dining, closed entertainment venues and suspended schools to control the spread. It then managed to keep the case count at zero or close to zero until as recently as March 15 of this year.

But as the most recent outbreak developed, the people of Taiwan realized that with a less severe variant and high levels of vaccination, the island could afford to live with it.

The rewards are obvious to see. The quarantine for people arriving abroad has been cut from 14 days to seven days. Mandatory QR code scanning before entering restaurants and stores has been eliminated. Close contacts of confirmed patients are now required to isolate for just three days.

There’s also another benefit: no more fighting a useless battle. As Chen put it: “We can see that the zero-Covid policy can never achieve the goal of completely eliminating the virus in any country.”

Taiwanese mother Hsueh, who has a 3-year-old son, thinks the government should make clearer rules on school suspensions before letting zero-Covid stay.

Skepticism remains

However, not everyone believes that Taiwan is fully prepared to go on.

Since the beginning of May, when the number of cases spiked, daily lines have formed in front of pharmacies across Taipei as residents scrambled to buy quick test kits. Many people left empty-handed even though they had waited in line for hours.

The Department of Health said that people without Covid-19 symptoms must first test positive with a rapid test if they are eligible for a more accurate PCR test, which has only increased demand.

The difficulty in procuring test kits has led some residents to complain about the government’s lack of preparation.

“It’s better for people to be prepared before we move to live with the virus,” said a mother surnamed Hsueh, who has a 3-year-old son. “Many families still do not have full access to rapid testing kits.”

Other parents are concerned their children, who are still not eligible for vaccinations in Taiwan, are vulnerable to infection.

“I feel like the government hasn’t considered children as they come to live with the virus,” said another mother, surnamed Chang, whose two children are in kindergarten. “I’m worried… I avoid taking my kids to indoor playgrounds, and I only take them to the park when there are fewer people.”

“Right now, there are changes to the rules every day or two,” Hsueh said. “It can be really confusing, and it’s better to have a plan.”



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