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Coronavirus pandemic
This Week in AsiaOpinion
Zheng Yongnian
Translated by Yuen Kum Cheong
Zheng YongnianandTranslated by Yuen Kum Cheong

Opinion | To cope with the coronavirus outbreak, China needs less politics and more science

  • Adopting a scientific approach in their daily lives would help the Chinese people better handle tests such as Sars and the novel coronavirus
  • If this does not happen, China will continue to lack the stoicism and initiative it needs from all quarters to cope with crises

Reading Time:8 minutes
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A medical staff member wearing protective clothing takes a man’s temperature at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. Photo: AFP
Zheng YongnianandTranslated by Yuen Kum Cheong
As the novel coronavirus outbreak evolves into a large-scale public health crisis, the Chinese government has at all levels changed its previously passive stance and under-reporting. China has mobilised an unprecedented level of resources to battle the epidemic. From central to local governments, civilians to the military, and officials to the people, no stone has been left unturned.
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Yet, Chinese society’s attitude towards the government’s efforts is startlingly divisive. On one hand, sceptics have finally found an opportunity to attack the system as though the virus would not exist and the outbreak would not spread if the system is changed. On the other hand, there are believers who extol the virtues of the great national system, which they view as the only force capable of stopping an outbreak of this scale.

Society at large attempts to grasp and understand the situation from various perspectives, expressing emotions of fear, despair, anger or sympathy through their points of view or prayers. These emotions are unavoidable yet reasonable in the face of disasters.

However, what is lacking among sceptics as well as believers of the system is a scientific approach. There exists a certain natural order in the origin and spread of the virus. The system and its ability to effectively prevent or curb the spread of the virus is of secondary importance. To eradicate the virus at its source, we must rely on scientific knowledge and a scientific way of life.

BLAMING THE SYSTEM

To a large extent, it can be argued that today’s public health crisis is caused by the overemphasis of the role of the system. Compared with systems elsewhere, China’s system has a far superior ability to mobilise resources. The substantial progress made in China’s public health system after the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) crisis in 2003 underpins the people’s current confidence in it. However, despite the transformations in China’s public health system, people’s behaviours have not changed.

The robust system has prompted the people towards one extreme: belief only in the government, the leaders and official media, and not in science. Many view the leaders as omnipotent, all-powerful and capable of dealing with any disaster. In reality, this is not the case because no system is perfect. Even the most robust system has its flaws, some of which have persisted after the Sars crisis.

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