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What might China gain from the COVID-19 crisis?

5 Comments
By Sun Xi

The ongoing COVID-19 crisis can probably be seen as a “Black Swan” for not only China but also the whole world. It is largely unpredictable but with severe consequences. There is no doubt that China has been suffering most from such crisis economically, socially and politically.

However, it is highly arguable whether China or the Communist Party is approaching an “inflection point” of possible crack-up or imminent revolution. In my opinion, this COVID-19 crisis is a rare and good “reflection time” for the Chinese government and people to take serious, calm and thorough self-reflection, and likely China can turn the crisis into an opportunity with several unexpected gains.

Firstly, the COVID-19 crisis is a real test. According to Chinese President Xi Jinping, this epidemic is a major public health emergency with “the fastest spread, the widest range of infections, and the most difficult prevention and control” since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and “this is a crisis for us and it is a big test.”

Currently, it is still too early to say China has successfully passed the test, but the whole nation surely has been educated and honed by this tough disaster. From the chaotic panic at the beginning to the comprehensive responding and systematic recovering recently, China has been demonstrating its incredible resilience, adaptability, resourcefulness and self-reliance.

Secondly, the COVID-19 crisis is a precious catalyst. Obviously, China has shown certain weaknesses in this crisis too, but it is determined to learn from “obvious shortcomings exposed” during its response, especially how to prevent such crises from happening in the first place, rather than to control it by drastic measures and Herculean efforts after outbreaks.

China has vowed to reform and improve its health crisis response system, as well as to strengthen its healthcare system. China’s national legislature, the National People's Congress, has passed the fast-tracked decision on thoroughly banning trade and eating of wild animals. China will also speed up the biosecurity law legislation to safeguard its national security.

Last but not least, the COVID-19 crisis is a rare touchstone. First, it is a touchstone of China’s influence. When China coughs, the rest of the world catches a cold. This crisis has vividly displayed China’s important role within the global value chain and its influential purchasing power. When China simply stops producing and buying, many other countries suffer significantly. This somehow proves that the Chinese vision of a “Community of Shared Destiny for Humanity” is valid.

Second, it is a touchstone of effective governance. It was easy to criticize China’s so-called “Leninist” polity when the epidemic mainly happened within China. Now, outbreaks are occurring globally. Dr Bruce Aylward, who led the World Health Organization team to China, stressed that China’s counterattack can be replicated, but it will require speed, money, imagination and political courage. Then, we will see if other (especially those democratic) countries could handle their crises much better than China. Comparison will make things clearer.

Third, the crisis is a touchstone of bilateral relations. Although it is a hard truth that there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests in international relations, the Chinese people traditionally and even Xi himself firmly believe that “a friend in need is a friend indeed” (huànnàn jiàn zhēnqíng). Therefore, this COVID-19 crisis has delicately modified China’s perceptions on many other countries and may have a profound impact on its future foreign policies.

There is an old but popular Chinese saying: “much distress regenerates a nation.” (duōnàn xīngbāng). The idiom reveals both China’s strength and weakness. China is good at coping with crises during which the Chinese society becomes more motivated and united, but it is not good at preventing crises in advance, lacking a sense of crisis. That is why the Chinese nation has been able to overcome much adversity in history, but similar tragedies may repeat again and again.

The painful lessons of the SARS crisis in 2003 seemed not to be effectively remembered by the whole Chinese society. Whether the bitter gains from this tragic COVID-19 crisis can last much longer in China? Only time can tell.

Sun Xi, a 1980s China-born alumnus of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, is an independent commentary writer based in Singapore. He is also founder and CEO of ESGuru, a Singapore-based consultancy firm specializing in environmental, social and governance issues.

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5 Comments
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The "Community of Shared Destiny for Humanity" sounds OK on the face of it, like the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" sounded reasonable, but was very flawed in its execution.

The title sounds reasonable, but I fear it hides a more sinister goal. We are indeed entering a time when the fate of everyone on the planet is intertwined, but should we put our communal fate in the hands of a dictatorship? Is the Chinese leadership looking for a convenient way to exert control over puppet governments, the way Imperial Japan did a few generations ago? By the time we find out, it may be much more difficult to right the wrongs of such a system.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Whatever China might gain is vastly outweighed by what they've lost and are going to lose.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I really don't think there's anything China has gained from COVID19. Only losses. And in a big way.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

US gains the most by successfully containing China's economy.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

What a most accurate report. Bravo.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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