The narrative around Taiwan's COVID success story obscures the very real challenges Taiwanese people endure

• Taiwan's successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic has drawn comparisons to a COVID-19 paradise.
• That narrative is misleading because it obscures the complexity and challenges of pandemic life that also exist.
• International media attention on Taiwan can be channeled to more nuanced stories about Taiwan's pandemic response.
• Judy Chen is a freelance writer based in Taipei, Taiwan.
• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.

In a year of deaths and lockdowns, Taiwan seems like an enviable COVID-free island where life goes on as normal. The country has been described as an "oasis" where the coronavirus is "out of sight and out of mind," and a contained "happy little bubble" that has declared "victory over coronavirus" as early as October of last year. Imagined as a paradise, such a narrative in international media obscures the complexity and challenges of pandemic life in Taiwan. The current outbreak across the country is a harrowing example that even Taiwan cannot rest on its laurels, for the pandemic is far from over.

A paradise narrative is other-worldly and conservative, without asking what happens next when people mingle in the world again. The fact that Taiwan has only recorded just over 2,500 infections and only 14 deaths is undeniably impressive; but Taiwan is more than its pandemic-handling. The international media attention on Taiwan in the past year can be redirected to other complex and important stories.

Beyond Paradise

Taiwan has prided itself in its transparency in containing the virus, yet double standards and stigma still found their way. Notably, in late 2020, a migrant worker from the Philippines was fined 100,000 Taiwan dollars ($3,500) for breaking the mandatory 14-day quarantine for just eight seconds, whereas four visiting DJs were each fined just NT$10,000 ($350) for leaving quarantine to dine and rehearse together. This is back-dropped by increasing activism around migrant labor rights in Taiwan, which hosts over 700,000 migrant workers from South East Asia.

Or consider that until March 2021, Chinese nationals could enter Taiwan only if they had a resident permit and a Taiwanese spouse, while foreigners from other countries, including those with more cases than China, had a broader set of qualifications that included business travel. In local media, people have written against discrimination of Chinese spouses living in Taiwan, and in the wake of increased anti-Asian hate in predominantly white countries and condemned uses of "Wuhan Virus" or "Chinese Virus," Taiwan continues to interchange COVID-19 (新冠肺炎) with the problematic name "Wuhan Pneumonia" (武漢肺炎), even on governmental websites like Taiwan's CDC and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Even Taiwanese returning from abroad have experienced stigma after complying with quarantine measures.

In fact, returning Taiwanese have been a main reason for Taiwan's influx of people in 2020. Four times the usual rate, the influx has been celebrated, though without much discussion of its sustainability. Long before the pandemic, Taiwan had been struggling with brain drain, an aging population, and how to attract diverse talent. Despite the positive trends during the pandemic, an Oxford Economics report predicted that as of 2021, Taiwan would have the highest talent deficit in the world. Local media has asked whether foreigners will stay after COVID-19, alongside calls for changes in actual policy and business culture. In a piece about how Taipei became the home of live comedy during the pandemic, the writer foresees a near future "when the world re-opens and a 'normal' life in the Taiwanese bubble lose their appeal."

The bubble has to burst, somehow. An op-ed published by Zeit Online writes that for all of Taiwan's COVID success, it needs an "exit strategy" as well. A New York Times piece warns that Taiwan's "high walls" may risk "isolating Taiwan economically and politically," and suggests that a strong border policy cannot and should not be a long-term strategy. Now, the current outbreak saw the virus sneaking past the first line of defense - mandatory quarantine upon entry - into communities across the country, where a different defense strategy is needed. This has brought back debates for mass-testing, which Taiwan has never deployed during the pandemic, apart from select rapid-testing sites in the past week.

This has brought new urgency to vaccines. Vaccinations were underway, with just over 245,000 vaccinations to date for 1% of the population, at an increased rate in the recent weeks. New shipments of doses are promising, but not yet enough to vaccinate the general population. Previously, many Taiwanese were hesitant due to safety concerns, electing instead to wait for the Moderna and locally-produced vaccines. Until the recent infections, Taiwan's COVID safety meant a lack of urgency that wasn't interrogated enough when life was otherwise so normal.

Beyond COVID

Taiwan's coronavirus story is more than a paradise narrative suggests, for beneath the glaring success are real challenges - some that we're currently going through as a country right now. This year has earned Taiwan plenty of international media attention, but Taiwan's stories should not be merely typecast as positive pandemic handling. Or, given the current situation, as pandemic complacency, only to return to a paradise narrative when Taiwan emerges from the crisis.

There is a tremendous opportunity to shine a different light, one that features local voices and issues, on Taiwan for the world, especially given the influx of foreign journalists. Often pigeonholed as a renegade island at the center of fearful geopolitics, or as a semiconductor powerhouse without other industries of promise and failure to consider, Taiwan has more stories to tell. Taiwan's historic drought and surrounding climate change issues, the aging population and healthcare, labor rights for migrant and domestic workers, culture and soft power - the stories are endless, especially beyond typecast labels.

Judy Chen is a freelance writer based in Taipei, Taiwan.