At 10 am on Saturday, April 4th, on the day of the Qingming Festival, the alarm sounded throughout China for three minutes.The whole country stopped and mourned all the people who died in the 2019 coronary virus.After this terrible experience laid a deep brand of collective memories, this was a time for unity in the country.According to official data, more than 3,300 Chinese people died of more than 83,000 infected people.Some Western reports expressed doubt about these numbers, which made the Chinese authorities angry.Even if there are more infections and deaths, the overall situation will not be changed.
On January 23, the first two days before the Chinese Lunar New Year, Chinese leaders made a major decision to block Wuhan, a city with 11 million people.All public transport, including airports, railway stations, subways, and river ports, suddenly stopped running.In the afternoon, the highway to Wuhan was blocked.Within a few days, 16 Hubei provinces with a total population of nearly 60 million were isolated.By limiting the main epidemic in Hubei Province, China can prevent major epidemic situations from going out of the country.
In the past two months, the people of Hubei have experienced different degrees of suffering, and Wuhan is the most serious.Aid from all over the country has continued sources, and two special hospitals with a total of 2,500 beds were built within 10 days.The Chinese government dispatched tens of thousands of medical staff from other provinces and the People's Liberation Army to the epidemic area to strengthen the public medical system there, otherwise it will collapse due to sudden increase in severe patients.The central government ensures that each Hubei city has a large province to provide comprehensive support.A few weeks ago, when the medical staff finally left Wuhan and other cities, a large number of Hubei residents took the streets and sent off for these foreign teams to express their gratitude.
Imagine that if the Chinese central government hesitate to deal with the epidemic, it will definitely cause fierce arguments inside.Wuhan is the main hub of China Airlines, railways, highways and rivers transportation.During the Anti -Japanese War, after the fall of Nanjing, Wuhan was the temporary headquarters of Chiang Kai -shek.When Chiang Kai -shek moved the National Government of the Republic of China to the upper reaches of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, and it was difficult to reach Chongqing, several great defenders in Wuhan had occurred in Wuhan.
Maybe no city can be so closely linked to all parts of China like Wuhan.It is the Chinese city with the largest number of students, and many of them come from other provinces.During the weekly holiday, the Chinese will return to their hometown to reunite with their families.China ’s annual Spring Festival is the largest human migration on the earth.
Looking back, if Beijing does not make a decision to block Wuhan, the crown disease will spread to all corners of China within a week.The World Health Organization claims that this is unprecedented response measures in the history of public health.The severely disaster -stricken area like Wuhan can easily appear 50, which will inevitably shake the leadership of the Communist Party of China.At that time in late January this year, people still knew very little about the nature of the 2019 coronary virus, and even today I don't know much about it.
The Chinese authorities made serious mistakes in December last year and January this year, including local officials to investigate and deal with whistle (the main provincial leaders participating in the early stage of covering the epidemic, including the Hubei Provincial Party Secretary and Wuhan Municipal Party Secretary).However, in the most critical decision, the central government has made the right decision.This saved China and won a few weeks for the world.Unfortunately, despite the repeated warning of the WHO, it has not been used well in those weeks.
Put the emphasis on epidemic prevention and resumption
For several weeks, in the hearts of many people, the 2019 coronary virus is the same as Shatz. It is a virus that mainly infects Chinese and other East Asians.This helps the conspiracy theory of the origin of the virus.With the increasing number of Chinese infections and deaths, the external response is different.Some people expressed their sympathy and reached out, while others were ridiculed.Anti -China and anti -China emotions spread in most parts of the world. It was not only the mainland Chinese, but also East Asians.
Beijing see these different reactions.When the Wall Street Journal described China as a real Asian sick husband, it aroused strong dissatisfaction among Chinese people.In contrast, the Vatican, who donated a small number of masks, was praised.
Since then, the situation has changed dramatic.China has successfully reduced the new confirmed cases to less than 100 a day, most of which are input cases.It is still very afraid of the epidemic rebound and implemented comprehensive preventive measures.Now it is not the world that puts China from the door, but that China blocks the world out of the door, and pay special attention to protecting Beijing from the impact of the epidemic.International flights to Beijing must first land on one of the 12 designated cities in order to quarantine each entry passenger and isolate when necessary.
At the same time, the central government has gradually relaxed the control of normal economic activities.Highway transportation, luxury consumption, housing sales, coal consumption, air pollution and other indicators all show that the economy is recover rapidly.This year's GDP (GDP) is expected to achieve positive growth.Of course, the export field is still seriously affected, but due to the size of the domestic market, China's dependence on the export field is not as large as before.China is the world's most vertical and integrated economy.In July last year, McKinsey published a report saying that although the global economic exposure to China is increasing, China's exposure to other parts of the world is decreasing.
On the other hand, the 2019 coronary virus has spread to other parts of the world like a flood, which is much larger than China.The economy of the United States and the European Union has almost declined because people correctly focus on measures to control the epidemic.The unemployment rate has soared, and governments of various countries are spending trillions of dollars to help companies and individuals who are in trouble to get through difficulties.A serious shortage of masks, protective clothing and respirators.Some cities in Lunbaidi and Spain have established a heartbreaking system to determine who should be treated more.
China has had to issue a appeal to providing medical supplies from all over the world to supplement its own lack of production. Now it is the main supply of these life -saving materials to the world.Chinese factories now operate 24 hours a day and produce 200 million masks per day, most of which are used for export.
The central centralization system has a long history
We don't know how long in Europe and the United States to get rid of the current situation.The 2019 coronary virus is a highly contagious virus. Unless all countries are safe, no country is not safe.Even if Europe and the United States control the epidemic, viruses spreading to the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America will continue to threaten everyone until they find effective vaccines that can be vaccinated by everyone.
It is difficult for other countries to do what China does.China ’s unique centralized system has a long history in Chinese history, which is not unique to the People's Republic of China.For more than two thousand years, the ideal in the minds of the people is to have a well -operated centralized system led by the wise monarch.China repeatedly builds the Great Wall to protect the country from being exempted from external harm. This is its strength and its huge weaknesses.
Crown disease directly affects public health, and long -term will affect global economy and geopolitics.After the global financial crisis over the past ten years, another decline may be coming.Some people worry that the situation will be worse.The government's efforts to inject liquidity and suspend contract obligation can only be temporarily rescued.In the end, the problem of over -liabilities must be solved in some way.To a large extent, excessive liabilities have been caused by unprecedented liquidity in the global financial crisis in the global financial crisis.
As the company's closure has a chain effect on other companies and creditors, it may take years to clean up this financial stall.There are so many people who have suffered, and the impact on the poor is particularly great. The existing political system and structure will inevitably be questioned.Some countries will have social turmoil.The weak will collapse and become history; the strong will become stronger and make persistent efforts on this basis.In the global politics and economic fields, the leaderboards of leading countries and companies will change again.
In the United States, the chaotic crownThe method of disease response is becoming a key issue of the upcoming election and prompting the emergence of new leaders.In the European Union, crown disease is testing European unity to the greatest extent.If India's crown disease becomes worse, its noisy democracy will face major pressure.In China, at the beginning, the crown disease that pose a threat to the Communist Party has established its leadership position, at least so far.The long history of Chinese history has recovered.For the beginning of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms: When it comes to the general trend of the world, it must be in line for a long time.
China can lead the world out of decline
As long as the second wave of epidemic can be prevented, China is now leading the world to lead the world to lead the global recession.It is now the only bright tunnel at the end.Chinese leaders naturally want to transform this into political advantages.We have seen how China is based on political considerations and issued masks and other materials to foreign countries through direct donations or export licenses.With the recovery of China's economy, we can expect that China will open up the domestic market to a friendly country along the Belt and Road.For the United States and Europe, China will try to use its current advantages to ease anti -China mood and establish long -term relationships.
In recent years, Western anti -China emotions have become more and more serious, partly due to concerns about China's rise and the conflict of civilized values.Even among those who appreciate the success of China to defeat crown diseases, some people are disgusted with China's autocracy.When the Central Government announced the blockade of Wuhan, the people of Wuhan had no say of this decision.When U.S. President Trump considers the blockade of New York City, Governor of New York State Governor Momo strongly opposed.In China, national interests are higher than human rights.In the West of Liberalism, there is a continuous tension between the two, which is also the source of Western creativity since Greece and Rome.
China and the United States must be different
It is very interesting to compare the response to their respective whistle.Dr. Li Wenliang in China first rang the alarm of the crown disease in Wuhan. Captain Brett Middot; Brett Crozier, the crown disease epidemic on the Roseford aircraft carrier was public.Both were infected with the virus.In the Li Wenliang incident, he was formally rehabilitated after his death.In the Croze incident, no matter what the White House said, the debate will never stop.China and the United States are established on different basis, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.Global cooperation requires each other to accept each other.
As long as China does not overestimate its strength this time, it may become the big winner of the crown disease epidemic.It must curb its officials to adopt an over -tough attitude when defending China's position, or treat small countries with a strong attitude.It is best to follow Churchill's most well -known saying: when you fail, you have to die for death; when victory, you must be tolerant and generous; at peace, you must be full of goodwill.At the Special Summit of the Group of Twenty Groups held through the video recently, China called on the international community to strengthen the global economic cooperation by coordinating macroeconomic policies and promoting trade.
China may soon convene a meeting of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference due to a crown disease.How China adjusts domestic and foreign policies (economy and politics) is not only related to China, but also the world.Crown disease is a global tragedy, but it is also a historic opportunity for China and the world to change the string, rebuild trust, strengthen cooperation, and build a more secure world.Otherwise, another possible situation is a more serious tragedy than the popularity.
(The author is a former Foreign Minister in Singapore. He is now a senior consultant for geopolitical initiative of Brunswick Group.
This article was originally carried on April 16, 2020. The article only represents personal views.
