Opinion | With coronavirus crisis, China sees a chance to export its model of governance

For several decades, China has been manufacturing and exporting almost everything across the globe, thus gaining status as the world’s factory. More recently, China has taken the lead in exporting innovative technologies. Amid the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, some people have also accused China of exporting coronavirus.

China’s governance model is built on concentration of power by a small group of leaders, making all state institutions subservient to the Communist Party, prioritising economic development over human rights, using law as a tool to suppress civil liberties, treating religious or linguistic diversity as a threat to national unity, using media as a tool for government propaganda, and invoking national sovereignty as a shield to ward off any criticism of the government’s human rights record.

After refining its model over the years, the Chinese government is feeling more confident about exporting it to other countries. The Belt and Road Initiative, launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013, provides a suitable platform. In return for facilitating the realisation of local peoples’ right to development, the Chinese government is able to gain significant leverage over host countries’ policies, priorities, national resources and preferences in international relations.

The Chinese government has also started promoting its vision of governance at international institutions. For example, in March 2018, China proposed a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council outlining its approach of promoting human rights through “mutually beneficial cooperation” and constructive dialogue, rather than accountability for systemic human rights abuses.