Coronavirus response: US flails while China goes from strength to strength

The absence of consistency and common sense from the US stands in sharp contrast to the experience of other countries
China’s success, through rapid response, mass testing, surveillance and use of big data, provides a blueprint for disaster management

Daniel Wagner

Published: 9:15am, 1 Nov 2020

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Many Western governments continue to agonise over how to respond effectively to Covid-19. Proponents of free speech and movement continue to resist their governments’ attempts to craft and enforce national strategies to conduct a war against the pandemic.

In the US, state governments’ ability to create policies that apply only to their citizens and sometimes conflict with neighbouring states or federal guidelines often end up putting individual liberty ahead of the resulting collective harm. States have the mandate to act because the Trump administration does not appear to want to accept responsibility.

The absence of leadership, common sense, consistency and enforcement from the White House and US federal government stands in sharp contrast to what has occurred elsewhere.

Beijing has been criticised for its failure to act swiftly and transparently at the outset of the virus, resulting in its rapid global spread. However, once the government decided to act, it did so with bravado and efficiency – a fact some in the Western media have failed to widely report and continue to deny Beijing credit for.

US President Donald Trump has said America tests more of its citizens than any other country, but it is dwarfed by the sheer scale of testing throughout China. All 10 million people in Wuhan were tested in May, and Beijing continues to engage in the mass testing of hundreds of millions; it said this month that it would test all 9 million people in Qingdao in just five days after an outbreak of a dozen new cases.

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That type of mass testing is emblematic of the seriousness with which the Chinese government has tackled this menace. The government’s surveillance of its citizenry is unrivalled. This is one instance where the entire population has collectively benefited from the government’s use of big data, AI and surveillance technology.

In many parts of China, people no longer feel the need to wear a mask outside as they are confident that the situation is under control.

Such a draconian approach to managing the virus is highly effective. However, it will remain little more than a dream in most countries, which lack the resources or capability to implement such a scheme.

Many in China no doubt revel in the fact that the country is virtually virus-free, with freedom of movement, and that their government has done such a good job of managing the virus. Meanwhile, much of the rest of the world is still struggling to contain Covid-19.

03:07

France aiming for ‘brutal brake on infections’ with its second national lockdown to fight Covid-19

The US government has failed miserably to step up to the plate. While many Americans struggle to fathom how poorly their government has responded to the pandemic, the Chinese government has given the world a master class in disaster management.

Regardless of the type of government a country may have, its citizens either benefit or pay a price. The price of having a feckless, incompetent and irresponsible government in the US is that millions of people have become infected and hundreds of thousands have died needlessly and will continue to do so in the coming months.

The benefit of having a motivated, competent and resourceful government that can respond with precision to a national emergency is apparent for all to see.

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Can globalisation survive coronavirus or will the pandemic kill it?

This pandemic will go down in history as a contrast in political ideologies as much as a battle between mankind and nature and the hopeful triumph of medical technology. It is putting to the test the political, economic, social and cultural diversity of the world’s nations as never before, and it has already shown how fragile our ecosystems are in the era of globalisation.

In laying bare the strengths and weaknesses of nations, it also challenges some conventional wisdom about what is the preferred method of governance. In this battle, the US is floundering badly while China is in a position to dust itself off and move forward.

Daniel Wagner is CEO of Country Risk Solutions and author of the new book The Chinese Vortex

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