A paramilitary police officer wearing a protective face mask stand on guard at Tiananmen in Beijing on January 28. China’s initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak means that thousands have been infected, and over a hundred have died. Photo: AFP A paramilitary police officer wearing a protective face mask stand on guard at Tiananmen in Beijing on January 28. China’s initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak means that thousands have been infected, and over a hundred have died. Photo: AFP
A paramilitary police officer wearing a protective face mask stand on guard at Tiananmen in Beijing on January 28. China’s initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak means that thousands have been infected, and over a hundred have died. Photo: AFP
Minxin Pei
Opinion

Opinion

Minxin Pei

How China’s coronavirus crisis, like the Sars epidemic, was worsened by the Communist Party’s penchant for secrecy

  • The Chinese government’s early response to the coronavirus outbreak was to tightly control information, hampering containment efforts. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the next time will be better

Minxin Pei
Minxin Pei

Updated: 5:19pm, 1 Mar, 2020

Why you can trust SCMP
A paramilitary police officer wearing a protective face mask stand on guard at Tiananmen in Beijing on January 28. China’s initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak means that thousands have been infected, and over a hundred have died. Photo: AFP A paramilitary police officer wearing a protective face mask stand on guard at Tiananmen in Beijing on January 28. China’s initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak means that thousands have been infected, and over a hundred have died. Photo: AFP
A paramilitary police officer wearing a protective face mask stand on guard at Tiananmen in Beijing on January 28. China’s initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak means that thousands have been infected, and over a hundred have died. Photo: AFP
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Minxin Pei

Minxin Pei

Minxin Pei is professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and a non-resident senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He is the author of China's Crony Capitalism.