Spread of information versus spread of virus: China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong

Wu, G.

This chapter investigates how three Chinese societies-namely, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong-in their different performances during the first months of the Covid-19 crisis, have revealed how the free or unfree flow of information via mass media and social media critically affects a society’s ability to fight the pandemic. The initial outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in China is to a great extent attributed to the harsh and often effective governmental censorship of media communication. In contrast, both Taiwan, as a democratic society with a high degree of free flow of information, and Hong Kong, where citizens have residual freedoms-primarily freedom to information-have achieved remarkable effectiveness in containing the spread of Covid-19 in their jurisdictions. Instead of attempting to provide a comprehensive study of the three jurisdictions, this chapter provides a snapshot of the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in the three cases and serves as a starting point for future research. It also critically reflects on the experience of societies at or near the epicentre of the global crisis in a way that highlights, from a political science perspective, the relevance of information flow to human ability in fighting pandemics and its lessons for the governance of public health emergencies. © the several contributors 2021.