Taiwan’s success in the area of “open government” policy development and implementation, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, was praised on Thursday as an example for other nations to follow, during an event hosted by the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The OGP was launched in 2011 by eight founding nations, including the United States, and now includes more than 70 national governments and dozens of local jurisdictions aiming to “increase the availability of information about governmental activities” and “support civic participation … in decision making and policy formulation.” Scott Busby, acting principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, stated that “Taiwan’s transparency during the COVID-19 pandemic is a strong model for the rest of the world,” highlighting Taiwan’s successful defense against the pandemic without widespread lockdowns or closures of schools and businesses. “Many governments have imposed unduly severe pandemic-related measures …