Book Title: Covid-19 in Asia: Law and Policy Contexts

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Abstract: This chapter evaluates a variety of movement and border control measures in Asia and considers how these responses demonstrate the persistence of territorial sovereignty and the nation-state in a highly globalized world. It situates the discussion within broader debates about borders—open, closed, even shifting. The chapter then provides a preliminary framework for analyzing movement and border control measures across Asia. This framework employs three binaries for analyzing state control: territoriality (internal/external controls); nationality (citizens/aliens); and directionality (entry/exit). Ultimately, governmental responses to Covid-19 highlight both the independence and interdependence of states in a globalized world. The widespread closure of borders to outsiders and insiders demonstrates that classical Westphalian notions of the nation and state borders persist, even while being transformed by ever-more-innovative technologies. The willingness of governments to shut their external and internal borders—and the exceptions they make—also tend to reaffirm the primacy of national interests, with public health and the continued flow of essential goods and services regarded as non-negotiable considerations.