The Chinese word for crisis - weiji - combines the characters for danger and opportunity. The potential collateral damage to the economy from the Sars outbreak could exceed that of the Tiananmen Incident of June 4, 1989, and the 1997-1999 Asian financial crisis. Mainland China's economy was insulated from harm to some extent in 1989 because it was still relatively closed, and in the later crisis because its financial systems were not closely integrated. While economic downturn may be the greatest nightmare of China's new generation of leaders, Sars might ironically be the stimulating force that brings China into the 21st century. Sars has put a new face on the mainland. China-US relations never improved significantly during the tenure of former president Jiang Zemin. But nothing brings people together like common adversity: After sidelining the United Nations and attacking Iraq, US President George W. Bush telephoned President Hu Jintao to compliment his work in combating Sars. Mr Hu responded, 'China will give the highest priority to the health and safety of the broad population. Sars is an enemy of mankind. We want to work in co-operation with international society.' Now Mr Hu is the humanist. After two decades of putting economic development first, a clear policy shift has occurred. The mainland government, by moving economic issues down a notch, is placing unprecedented emphasis on humanity. For Mr Hu, this represents an opportunity to slide out from under Mr Jiang's shadow. For Premier Wen Jiabao, the Sars crisis presents an opportunity to step into former premier Zhu Rongji's shoes with particular vigour. He followed his mentor's example, recently, quoting Three Kingdoms era strategist Zhuge Liang: 'We are in the same boat and need to work out a strategy to jointly overcome this difficulty'. The eight Chinese characters involved now plaster China's press. Mr Wen appears everywhere in Beijing, including contaminated housing blocks and construction sites, speaking with workers and ordinary people in a manner that recalls former leader Zhou Enlai's popular style. Mr Wen has shocked university students by appearing in their canteen. Stirring popular sentiments, Mr Wen frequently quotes Lin Zexu, China's commissioner who negotiated with foreign invaders during the Opium War period of the 1840s: 'I will do whatever benefits my country, regardless of my own safety. I never make a decision based on my personal interest, even about disaster or fortune.' Mr Wen says he thinks about those lines every day. He told people at one university, 'With 5,000 years of history, our people cannot be suppressed. Through the unity of the people, together we will be able to fight Sars. Economic reform and modernisation will continually be promoted, and this disaster is a test of the government and the entire people. I believe after this test our nation will take even greater steps forward.' Maybe Mr Wen is right. Two decades of rushed economic development have left issues of hygiene, heath care, environmental concerns and human respect by the wayside. A modern society is not judged by how much cement smothers cities, but by the citizens' quality of life. Sars is compelling government and people to face such questions. The Sars cover-up scandal forced China's media to come to grips with the issue of credibility and to scrap the policy that all news must be good news. In the Internet age, the mainland's people cannot be fooled. State media organs are now printing bad news - the daily escalating Sars figures. The mainland media's transformation from mouthpiece to watchdog is accelerating. Opportunity evolves from the danger inherent in a crisis. This unprecedented test of China's fourth generation of leaders may bring them out of the shadow of their predecessors, giving political personality to individuals like Mr Hu and Mr Wen, who only weeks ago seemed complacent before the international media and their domestic constituency. Sars has forced the coming-of-age of China's new government, an image makeover presenting a humane, even sympathetic, face, and an opportunity for decisiveness. For the leaders, the battle against Sars is also a battle for credibility. Maybe, they will win both. Laurence Brahm is a political economist and lawyer based in Beijing