In East Asia, regional countries have sought two main approaches to managing COVID-19. On the one hand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan adopted anti-COVID-19 measures that aligned with international human rights standards. On the other hand, China, North Korea, Hong Kong’s “Zero-COVID” mechanisms to contain the pandemic were more restrictive, threatening people’s fundamental rights. The policy brief “Moving Beyond COVID-19 Restrictions in East Asia: Pushing Back Against Authoritarian Pandemic Governance” provides an overview of these two approaches and the impact on human rights in East Asia.