Coronavirus: Lancet says scapegoating China for pandemic ‘not constructive’
- Journal acknowledges the country has been widely criticised over Covid-19, but says the world can learn from its disease control successes
- Editorial pushes back on national divisions, calling for ‘global solidarity’ and ‘open collaboration’
An editorial published on Friday for the journal’s latest edition acknowledged that China had been “widely criticised for its role and responsibilities during the pandemic because of censorship, transparency, and human rights concerns”, but said the rest of the world could still learn from its disease control successes.
“China is facing legitimate questions in many areas of its domestic and foreign policy, but when it comes to Covid-19, scapegoating China for the pandemic is not a constructive response,” the editorial read.
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China has been the target of a months-long campaign by US officials and lawmakers who have sought to pin blame on the country for the global spread of Covid-19, which was first identified in China late last year. The campaign has come amid a downward spiral in relations between the two countries.
“Make no mistake: we hold China fully responsible for concealing the virus and unleashing it upon the world. They could’ve stopped it. They should’ve stopped it. It would’ve been very easy to do at the source when it happened,” US President Donald Trump said at a press briefing earlier this month, echoing his typical commentary on the pandemic.
The US president has also suggested that China pay reparations for the economic damage of the pandemic, which has ground economies to a halt across the world.
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Criticisms have not only come from the US. There have been widespread international and domestic concerns over the silencing of a group of Chinese doctors who at the start of the outbreak tried to alert others in the medical community about a mysterious disease similar to the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome that broke out in China nearly two decades ago.
There are also questions about the period of several weeks from when the virus was first identified and when Chinese officials confirmed that it was spreading among humans, another issue highlighted by Washington.
Pushing back on national divisions during the pandemic, the Lancet editorial called for “global solidarity” and said “tackling a global health emergency like a pandemic requires open collaboration”.
In contrast to US criticisms, it noted the speed with which Chinese scientists were able to identify the virus, share its genetic information and publish epidemiological data “warning the world about the threat of Covid-19”.
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It also highlighted “lessons” other countries could learn from China, which recorded around 80,000 cases in the space of roughly two months, but by virtue of lockdowns and other stringent disease control measures, as well as strict border controls and fast testing, has brought its outbreak under control.
“A country of 1.4 billion people and a size similar to Europe or the USA now reports only clusters of cases rather than widespread community transmission,” the editorial said.
“Strong top-level political commitment” to science was one feature of China’s response that could serve as a lesson to other countries, the editorial said, pointing to quick deployment of scientists to the epicentre of the outbreak and the use of “fangcang” shelter hospitals on the recommendation of medical experts.
The temporary facilities were used for patients with mild symptoms so they would not infect others in their households, a tactic that has not caught on in Western countries tackling the disease.
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China’s “huge investments” in domestic science and public health capacity in recent years, as well as “broad community engagement”, including at the expense of individual freedom, were also important factors in China’s success, the editorial said.
Critics at the time suggested some of China’s disease control measures violated humans rights.
The journal cited wide compliance with “mandatory mask-wearing in public areas”, an issue that has become fraught with politics around personal liberties, particularly in the US.
“There are tensions between freedom and security that each country has to reckon with, and some of China’s approaches to surveillance, for example, would not be acceptable elsewhere,” the editorial acknowledged. “But China’s experiences show the importance of community solidarity and what it can achieve,” it said.
