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> that's largely irrelevant in a tiny country whose economy is mostly making stuff for the west. Taiwan has roughly the same population as Australia packed int

> that's largely irrelevant in a tiny country whose economy is mostly making stuff for the west. Taiwan has roughly the same population as Australia packed into an area 1/10th the size of Japan. This makes it more not less difficult and yet Taiwan stopped an outbreak and went eight months without a single local transmission. Also your representation of Taiwan's trade is completely disingenuous. Please google the phrase, "Taiwan's largest trading partner".

timr 6y ago
> This makes it more not less difficult and yet Taiwan stopped an outbreak and went eight months without a single local transmission. Again: they shut their borders before there were any cases. Population density is a detail when you can just keep the virus from getting into your country in the first place. > Please google the phrase, "Taiwan's largest trading partner". Arguing about China does not change the fact that Taiwan's economy is export driven, which was the point. https://tradingeconomics.com/taiwan/balance-of-trade https://tradingeconomics.com/taiwan/balance-of-trade
- AlchemistCamp 6y ago
  I live in Taiwan and have been reading the news here all year. > Again: they shut their borders before there were any cases. Again, your claim isn't true. Taiwan had cases from the very first set of Wuhan evacuees. The virus has "gotten in". No local transmission doesn't mean people haven't been returning infected from Wuhan, other Chinese cities, Europe and elsewhere all year. Those infections haven't spread, though. Why are you so unwilling to give credit where credit is clearly due? Taiwan has done an exemplary job during this pandemic, despite high population density, close proximity to the initial outbreak and zero support whatsoever from the WHO.
  - timr 6y ago
    I grant you that Taiwan had a very small number of confirmed cases early on. Then they closed their borders. Taiwan deserves credit for reacting quickly enough that they could do contact tracing to eradicate a small number of cases. But you keep missing the point: it's much easier to do this when you're an island nation with a paucity of international travelers. Even in a year where international arrivals are down by >80%, the US had more than a quarter of Taiwan's population arrive internationally. And that's just visa arrivals.

timr 6y ago

> This makes it more not less difficult and yet Taiwan stopped an outbreak and went eight months without a single local transmission. Again: they shut their borders before there were any cases. Population density is a detail when you can just keep the virus from getting into your country in the first place. > Please google the phrase, "Taiwan's largest trading partner". Arguing about China does not change the fact that Taiwan's economy is export driven, which was the point. https://tradingeconomics.com/taiwan/balance-of-trade https://tradingeconomics.com/taiwan/balance-of-trade

AlchemistCamp 6y ago
I live in Taiwan and have been reading the news here all year. > Again: they shut their borders before there were any cases. Again, your claim isn't true. Taiwan had cases from the very first set of Wuhan evacuees. The virus has "gotten in". No local transmission doesn't mean people haven't been returning infected from Wuhan, other Chinese cities, Europe and elsewhere all year. Those infections haven't spread, though. Why are you so unwilling to give credit where credit is clearly due? Taiwan has done an exemplary job during this pandemic, despite high population density, close proximity to the initial outbreak and zero support whatsoever from the WHO.
- timr 6y ago
  I grant you that Taiwan had a very small number of confirmed cases early on. Then they closed their borders. Taiwan deserves credit for reacting quickly enough that they could do contact tracing to eradicate a small number of cases. But you keep missing the point: it's much easier to do this when you're an island nation with a paucity of international travelers. Even in a year where international arrivals are down by >80%, the US had more than a quarter of Taiwan's population arrive internationally. And that's just visa arrivals.