To begin, I don’t know why they picked me to give this report on the Taiwanese response to the pandemic. They should have picked some Taiwanese person, but here I am.

I don’t know. [laughs]

Yes. The conference is an international conference of the Law and Society Association. It’s composed of scholars who are doing law and sociology, law and history, law and literature, law and health, law and this or that.

It’s quite an interdisciplinary conference. Since I was here in Taiwan and I’ve been active in that organization, they asked me to give the report on Taiwan.

I’m very flattered to have the opportunity to speak with you. This is a real honor. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much for joining our conversation.

Great, that’s wonderful. I think that you saw my questions.

Maybe you would like to begin with telling me something about the very end of December 2020 or 2019, when the information about Wuhan came in?

Yes, December of 2019. Taiwan reacted very quickly and very effectively.

Could you tell me something about the process by which the cabinet ministries coordinated their various efforts early on at that time? As you know, in America our departments of this and departments of that were all fighting with each other. The different states had different policies, and everything was quite uncoordinated.

It happened with the SARS.

Can I ask for a moment? The SARS playbook, is that something that would be available, do you think, in English translation?

Let me get that down. It’s fightcovid?

Could we go back a little bit to something earlier that you mentioned, the PTT, the student project. What does PTT stand for?

Professional Technology Temple.

Interesting. I had never heard of that before.

My students in my class would also have access to it.

No More…?

That’s the second column there? How many people talk about it?

It’s 12/31?

2 AM.

This is terrific. I’ve never known about this before. Thank you very much. This is excellent. Nomorepipe is really a national hero.

She has never gone public?

Before continuing this fascinating conversation, I just wanted to mention to you that when I got out of law school a long time ago, as you see from my gray hair, I worked for a federal judge for a year.

Then I went to work for my hero of that era, Ralph Nader. I spent three years in the Nader Organization in its Health Research Group as a consumer watchdog on the FDA.

I have the same kind of public interest orientation.

Although my Mandarin is at an extremely elementary level, I have a teaching assistant who would, I’m sure, translate all this for me. That’s great. That’s really great.

Now, in the US, as you know, there has been a tremendous amount of resistance to simple things like wearing masks. Much as that is politically driven. To what extent was there anything resembling that kind of public or editorial resistance to CDC policy on COVID 19?

That they don’t have to wear a mask? [laughs]

That’s fantastic. Taiwan actually — you probably know this — exported some masks to my home state of Arkansas…

Eight million, did you say?

This is a fascinating story. Thank you. What about issues of surveillance and privacy? I’ve heard from some scholars over at, for example, Academia Sinica, that some lawyers’ groups have raised concerns about potential privacy invasions.

When you say public servant will somehow suffer, what is…?

I see. Is the only thing that triggers the Personal Data Act, the PDPA the sale or commercial use? Are there other things also that could trigger its provisions?

If the information was used for some personal retaliation against an enemy or something like that?

As I mentioned in my questions, I’ve heard that at least in a few cases, people have been fined or penalized or arrested for violations of quarantine or other regulations.

Concentration camps, back during World War II, the American government rounded up Japanese American citizens.

Sent them to places like Arkansas to what are called concentration camps there. Actually, my aunt was a teacher of Japanese American kids at one of those places in Arkansas.

They were sure there longer than 14 days.

Are these phrases part of the amended Act after SARS?

Part of the revision after SARS?

That’s something that’s entirely within the discretion of the CDC?

With Taiwan having a strong centralized government, you don’t have the same kind of issues about local jurisdictions disagreeing with these measures?

I’ve heard mention of this hospital case back in 2003 that you just adverted to. Could you tell me more about that? I haven’t learnt about that much.

I see. Mr. Yeh has been sitting silently all this time but now that we’ve raised the constitutional point, could you please explain…

Oh, so the revision was a direct result of the Constitutional Court ruling?

The seven, I’m told at least I can still ride my YouBike around, but I can’t teach my students. I don’t know if that’s true or not.

I could teach my students in one of those parks within the NTU campus?

Yes, I should check with NTU. As you know, that’s quite a bureaucracy in and of itself.

I see. Just as a matter of personal curiosity, usually I commute between my apartment in Wanlong and to the NTU on a YouBike back and forth every day that it’s not raining. I’m wondering since I carry my cell phone in my pocket, does that mean that our movements…?

Interesting. What kinds of disagreements between the central government and the local governments were there in 2003 besides the one…? I’m sorry, what was the name of the hospital?