The fight against Sars is first a battle for the truth

The mainland cannot effectively deal with its atypical pneumonia problems unless and until it has an accurate accounting of the extent of the outbreaks across the nation. So far, however, dubious reporting by provincial and municipal officials has given China a credibility problem. Few people believe the reports. Certainly the World Health Organisation has doubts and we can infer from their actions that senior national leaders share their concerns.

The leaders now are striving to show China is trying to tackle the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, changing the official reticence about the disease, which is widely believed to have originated in Guangdong. Now the mainland media carry frequent reports of President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior officials talking about Sars. Last night, the state media's report on Mr Wen's tour of Beijing schools highlighted his repetition of the message to officials at all levels of government. The need for such a plea is, ironically, the best confirmation of the widely held belief that the mainland's official statistics on Sars have been, to put it kindly, less than accurate.

Mr Hu and Mr Wen, however, are to be encouraged, for it is only by being open about the problem that the mainland can overcome its credibility problem. International fear of Sars, rational or irrational, will hurt China's economy, through a fall-off in tourism, business travel, conferences and possibly investment plans. When the mainland is in a position to say that it has the disease under control, it must also be in a position where it can - and should - be believed. As many commentators have noted, the initial response to the Sars outbreak was reminiscent of the mainland's approach to HIV/Aids. Despite much evidence to the contrary, and against all commonsense assessments, the mainland long denied it had a problem with HIV/Aids.

Now the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plans to hold a crisis meeting in Bangkok to formulate a regional strategy for combating fears of Sars: countries in the region are deeply worried that internationally it is called an 'Asian disease'. Such a meeting is largely meaningless without China's attendance. China should be there reassuring its neighbours. But while the credibility gap remains, it cannot play this role.

The mainland has learned that in matters of trade, business and the economy, dealing with the world means that it has to be open and credible. But this need extends to health matters, too: people overseas have to be able to trust China's public health reporting or they will be afraid of dealing with the country. The influence of the centre over the 29 provinces and six special economic zones is uneven, but it is vital that officials across the nation understand the message being put out by Mr Hu and Mr Wen - and heed it.