My Take | Why China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is at best a pyrrhic victory
- China put its state machinery to use to selectively control the narrative about the pandemic, which has affected every individual in the country in one way or another
- With the nation set to return to normal after the pandemic, the lessons learned go beyond public health policy
In reviewing China’s fight against the coronavirus, which has affected every person in the country in one way or another, there are some lessons to be learned, and some of them go beyond public healthcare.
The first is the cost of rigid information control. The line between news reporting and propaganda has become increasingly blurred in China, with Chinese censors hiding “harmful” information and pushing the “right” ones. But is it necessarily a good thing for the state to monopolise news and information? The coronavirus has shown that information control can backfire badly with society incurring huge costs – despite good intentions.
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To justify China’s dynamic zero approach after the highly contagious Omicron became the main variant, state media vigorously promoted the dangers of the virus and denounced the alternative approach of “living with the virus” as “lying flat”. The Chinese people were deprived of a chance to prepare for the reopening. In Hong Kong, where independent expert views were still heard, the city has avoided the unintended consequences of pursuing zero-Covid through universal testing.
The second lesson is the unnecessary “politicisation” of scientific issues. It was very painful to see the country disregard pragmatism and highlight ideology in its pursuit of zero-Covid after it was promoted as the right thing to do politically. As a result, reason and common sense were thrown out for political consideration. Spraying disinfectants into the air and using cotton buds to test fish for coronavirus, for instance, are just two such examples.
