Author: Zhang Wang
The Ministry of Health and Labor, Ministry of Labor and Labor, announced on February 13 that the first case of a new type of coronary virus pneumonia has occurred in Japan, and the infected people have never exported or exposed to tourists from Wuhan, marking that the domestic epidemic in Japan has entered a new stage.In 2020, it is particularly important for Japan.Because there are less than half a year, the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games is about to open.However, the pneumonia epidemic that broke out in China at the end of January caught Japan off guard.At such an important juncture, is Japan's ability to deal with this sudden pneumonia?
The initial crisis is not slow
Compared with the past government, Abe's reaction in the early days of the crisis was not slow.Since 2013, under the promotion of Abe, Japan has established a relatively centralized decision -making system, and the Prime Minister's residence has played a faster and fastest Command function than in the past.On January 28, Japan listed the new crown virus as a specified infection based on the infection method and quarantine method.On January 29, Japan sent a chartered aircraft to Wuhan to withdraw overseas Chinese for 3 consecutive days. At the same time, from February 1st, it started to start epidemic prevention measures at the major gates. It was forbidden to enter the country with Hubei who stayed in Hubei within 14 days before the entry application.
At the same time, it has more enthusiastically transporting assistance to China throughout Japan, donating protective clothing, protective eye masks and masks, which has greatly moved Chinese society.For example, Japanese -funded enterprises such as Ito Yayang have donated a large number of medical supplies to China.Tokyo Kyo and Daxian have announced that they donate epidemic prevention clothes and masks for disaster prevention warehouse reserve to China, reflecting Japan's international humanitarian spirit.
Take care of the politics of epidemic prevention in China
However, compared with the United States, Japan did not completely reject tourists and flights from China in early February.It is estimated that the Abe government has two layers of consideration:
First, Japan's manufacturing and tourism industry relies very much on China, and cannot rashly cut off the connection with China.According to statistics, during the Lunar New Year in 2019, Chinese tourists occupied the first place in Japan to visit Japan, reaching 9.59 million, and the consumption was as high as 1 trillion yen, which is a major income of the Japanese tourism industry.In addition, many industries in Japan (such as Nissan cars) depend on China.The crisis has stalled the industrial supply chain.It is said that Akihabara's difficult computer repairrs lack parts due to the suspension of Chinese factories and cannot repairs the computer in time to Japanese customers.
Second, the Liberal Democratic Party government needs to take into account the atmosphere of Xi Jinping's visit to Japan in April.At the beginning of February, the Japanese media once reported that Xi ’s visit to Japan was suspended due to pneumonia crisis.However, according to reports from the Kyodo News Agency on February 16, the Japanese Foreign Minister Maomin Chong and the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed the plan in Munich.Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, will also coordinate Xi Jinping's visit to Japan on February 28 on February 28. It proves that Xi may be visited Japan according to the original plan.
Need to strengthen random response capabilities
On the evening of February 9, Japan's NHK TV station urgently played a documentary to explore the crisis of new crown pneumonia.Some Japanese experts emphasized that they have visited the hospital in Wuhan in the past, and they feel similar to the medical level of Japan.The process of dealing with Wuhan this time is mainly because the virus can also be contagious without a symptoms, which makes it extremely difficult to track the pathway of the virus, which leads to the fatigue of the medical staff in the early stage of the crisis.Some experts believe that Japan should absorb experience from China's resistance, rather than blindly accusing China.However, in the past week, the number of domestic infections in Japan has continued to rise, and many cases have nothing to do with Diamond Princess Cruise, which has caused public opinion to question the government's initial interception.In addition, almost all the masks in Japan have been sold out, which is also worried that once the outbreak of infection, Japan will be unprepared.
In this context, the marathon contest still held on February 16 on February 16, and its alertness lack of surprise is surprising.British reporter Richard Lloyd Parry has analyzed a case of the Ghosts of the Tsunami at the Ghosts of the Tsunami in its 3.11 nuclear disaster: A groupThe tsunami flooded.The book pointed out that the Japanese's perseverance and obedience to the collective nationality are during the Chengping period or remarkable advantages, but when the disaster is coming, excessive self -constraints and lack of independent thinking are probably a very fatal weakness.
Nowadays, in the face of the aggressive new crown pneumonia, Japanese society also needs to get rid of the loose thinking of the peaceful era as soon as possible.
(The author is an associate professor at the Department of International Education of Waseda University in Japan)
