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Opinion | China’s coronavirus success shows up poor pandemic preparedness in the rest of the world
- The rest of the world had up to two months’ notice of the coronavirus but few governments took even basic steps to prepare for it. China, in contrast, took swift, bold steps, and may be rewarded economically when the looming depression is over
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During the depths of the Great Recession, China was a bastion of fiscal conservatism. Its currency did not free fall (as so many of the world’s major currencies did), its companies did not collapse en masse (as so many Western firms did), and it ended up in relatively good shape.
Although it is too early to say if China will emerge similarly from the global economic depression unfolding because of Covid-19, what is certain is that once Beijing decided to get serious about containing the virus, it did so with gusto and significant positive results.
Beijing should be criticised for its initial slow response, lack of transparency, and punishment of whistle-blowers and truth tellers. Had it responded differently, the world would have had even more time to anticipate the arrival of the virus and act more expeditiously to thwart its spread.
But it should also be acknowledged that during a pandemic with profound economic, social and health impacts, there really is no room for a lot of discussion, worrying about political correctness, or walking on eggshells for fear of offending individuals or businesses.
What is required is swift, bold action. The Chinese government had a tremendous advantage in implementing its action plan, in its capability and willingness to devote vast resources and use a draconian approach when necessary to solve a problem.
Although we remain at the beginning of the process of addressing Covid-19 in most of the rest of the world, several things are clear: many governments are poorly prepared to address a pandemic, too few had resources specifically earmarked for pandemics, many have been too slow to address the virus, and many have performed poorly in mobilising resources.
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