Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, policy interventions in many countries have been intense and wide-ranging, covering domains from public health and the economy, to school closures and diplomacy. Although the policy responses in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan have garnered international admiration, the pandemic persists and re-emerged each time it looked like it had been contained. At this seminar, speakers will look back at 2020 and reflect on what these governments have gotten right, what they might have done differently, and what their policies tell us about their economic priorities, governance capacities, politics and societies. The Social Inclusion Project will also launch a publicly-accessible online policy tracker, known as COVID-19 Policy Response in East Asia, that compares the timing and content of COVID-19 policies in the four places alongside key case metrics. This resource will support policy research and inform public understanding as the pandemic develops.