Leonard Hong is a Research Assistant with The New Zealand Initiative and has written research notes on East Asian nations’ Covid-19 containment responses. In 2019, he completed his BA/BCom conjoint degree at The University of Auckland majoring in Politics & International Relations, History, Economics, and International Business. Before joining the Initiative, he was a research intern at The Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney working on economic, cultural and global affairs.
Leonard is a member of the National Unification Advisory Council, a constitutional agency advocating Korean Reunification. He is also a 2020 Prime Minister’s Scholar for Latin America, and a Youth Councillor with the US Embassy.
Latest reports:
Research Note: Lessons from East Asia's Covid-19 Containment (2020)
Research Note: Lessons from Abroad: Taiwan's Covid-19 Containment Model (2020)
Research Note: Lessons from abroad: South Korea's Covid-19 containment model (2020)
Research Note: Lessons from abroad: Singapore’s Covid-19 containment model (2020)
Phone: 04 499 0790
These days, even the German army cannot afford to neglect its green credentials. Pity if that’s the only thing it is good at. Read more
Winston Peters will exit politics for the third time in his career. I spotted his ghost at Parliament the other day. Read more
Up to a million Kiwis live overseas with a right to return to New Zealand. While the country is now effectively free of Covid-19, with cases only in the country’s quarantine facilities, the pandemic rages abroad and is unlikely to abate anytime soon. Read more
If the Covid-19 pandemic had happened in a non-election year, would this or any Government’s response have been different? At the best of times, election campaigning can be a distraction for politicians. Read more
When in the US earlier this year, I came across many souvenirs mocking the country’s leader, including a card game called, Trump Cards: The Wackiest Game of Fake News. It looked like a fun party card game in which players tried to pick out 'Fake News' from real quotes by President Donald Trump. Read more
Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan deserve praise for fighting Covid-19. While Singapore and South Korea were hit with a second outbreak, their robust containment measures have kicked back in to stop rapid spread of the virus once more. Read more
Since the first cases of the Covid-19 virus emerged in the Chinese province of Wuhan, several East Asian countries including Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan have successfully 'flattened the curve' of infection rates. The three countries used common public policies in the first 50 days since each registered their 100th case. Read more
Alongside South Korea, Taiwan is one of the few countries to “flatten the curve” of Covid-19 without a national lockdown due to its prior experience with the SARS epidemic of 2003. New Zealand’s pathway is similar to Taiwan’s and there are lessons to be learned as New Zealand moves into Alert Level 2. Read more
Taiwan is one of the few countries to “flatten the curve” while maintaining an open domestic economy. Earlier this week, Taiwan only had 104 active cases of Covid-19. Read more
South Korea has quickly become a model country for effectively containing Covid-19 without needing a national lockdown. Given that the liberal democracy of South Korea is 40 days ahead of New Zealand on the epidemiological curve, it offers important lessons on how to balance an increase of economic activity with continued efforts towards virus elimination as New Zealand leaves Alert Level 4. Read more
As the world struggles to contain Covid-19, many countries are at different stages of containment and mitigation since registering their first 100 cases. Some, like South Korea, are more than a month further ahead compared with New Zealand and could offer a good example of what might be expected as New Zealand transitions out of Alert Level 4 lockdown. Read more
Two centuries ago, Napoleon Bonaparte called China a sleeping lion and advised to “let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world." Bonaparte's prophecies are relevant again today. The lion is now awake and she is becoming increasingly assertive. Read more
Singapore has set a high standard for dealing with Covid-19 and despite its decision to enter a lockdown this week, New Zealand can learn a lot from the country, according to a new report Lessons from abroad: Singapore’s Covid-19 containment model from the New Zealand Initiative. Although Singapore has enacted a “circuit breaker” lockdown to defend against some new sources of coronavirus, it could make this choice due to its earlier efforts to identify, control and contain the pandemic threatening its territory. Read more
Unless effective treatment for the novel coronavirus Covid-19 emerges quickly, the world faces not only misery but economic depression. New Zealand will be immune to neither. Read more
The gloomy headlines say New Zealand just flagged its 28th case of coronavirus. Great. Read more