Right now, the autocratic closed systems in China and Iran seem to be doing the worst, while free countries like the U.S., Taiwan, Singapore, and Australia are doing the best. The comparison of Taiwan and China is instructive.
The Chinese government has been working to tackle the coronavirus outbreak by using multiple measures to contain the spread of the virus as well as information about the outbreak. Most famously, the government imposed an extreme quarantine in Wuhan on January 23, which is still in place.
Besides these measures in the physical world, the Chinese government has attempted to quarantine discussion of the epidemic in the realm of public opinion.
From the first appearance of the new virus last December to the lockdown of massive cities in mid-January, the Chinese authorities chose to restrict public access to the information about the epidemic by silencing people, most famously the whistleblower Doctor Li Wenliang. In the early stages of the outbreak, the Chinese government issued a statement asserting that “the disease is preventable and controllable,” and announcements sent by Chinese officials to World Health Organization (WHO) office in Beijing claimed that there was no evidence of the disease being transmitted between humans.
But the Chinese scientists writing in The Lancet medical journal later revealed that the first patient known to have contracted the novel coronavirus had no link to the Wuhan seafood market that the Chinese government pointed to as the source of the outbreak. This would suggest that the virus all along was spreading via human-to-human transmission -- and that the government was lying to the public from the very beginning of this catastrophe.
Chinese news outlet Caixin covered the story of Dr. Li Wenliang, who became famous after being detained for posting about the new virus online. Li later died of the coronavirus himself, inspiring rare public anger against China’s censorship system. “There should be more than one voice in a healthy society,” Li told Caixin. When his death was reported, Chinese social media platforms were flooded with netizens’ anger and calls for freedom of speech.
That moment of transparency was brief, unfortunately as the Chinese government tightened media and online reporting of the disease. Its goal is not virus control but retaining power.
Taiwan, in contrast is not quarantining the news about the virus but making it easier “and more convenient for people to access relevant information. It has been conducting press conferences to announce policies and information almost every day, and to respond to rumors. It also uses “digital tools to communicate with the public.” And as there is no central control and civic participation outside the government is encouraged, these groups have played an active role in disseminating useful information.
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