This does not match the reality at all as anyone who has ever been to Taiwan knows. I spent almost half of 2019 in Taiwan and mask wearing was rare. One of the cultural shocks for me was that usually the only people who wore masks were people who were sick which is in itself something entirely foreign to a lot of Westerners who typically would stay home.

In fact I happened to be in Taiwan when COVID-19 got serious elsewhere in the world and there was severe mask shortage in Taiwan. To the point where the government had to ration masks. It was quite embarrassing really as my colleagues made a big deal about presenting myself and other foreigners masks since we were not eligible for the government mask rationing. National ID was required to be rationed out. The media in Taiwan made a big deal about companies there having to dramatically increase production to meet the new demand of masks.