Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s Covid Crusher
Taiwan went more than 200 days without a locally transmitted Covid-19 case after Tsai’s administration instituted one of the world’s most effective pandemic-response protocols.
Tsai
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Tsai, a former law professor and Taiwan’s first female president, started the year by securing a second term in an overwhelming victory on Jan. 11. But even in the runup to the election, her government was busy preparing to close borders, impose travel restrictions, and set up rigorous contract-tracing and quarantine protocols. (Those who violate lockdown measures face fines of as much as NT$1 million, or $35,000.) Taiwan, with a population of 23 million people, has had just over 600 coronavirus cases and seven deaths, numbers kept low by widespread adoption of face masks after the island’s deadly experience with SARS. Taiwan will likely be among the few economies to experience growth this year, with officials in August forecasting gross domestic product to expand 1.56%.