Hugs, sequins and rainbows as Taiwan enjoys victory over coronavirus

At the entrance to Taipei’s Pride march on Saturday, Pearl Jain and Lance Xie held up a sign offering free hugs. Similar placards were waved above the pulsating crowd of 100,000 sweaty and bedazzled party goers along the parade route. Xie had recently returned from Melbourne, where 5 million people have just emerged from one of the toughest lockdowns in the world and everyone is trying not to touch each other. It was good to be home. Jain said: “It’s nice to have the chance to hug people here because everywhere else is in lockdown and that’s just so sad.”

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