Beijing’s Self-Congratulations on COVID-19 Management: Is it Justified?

A mother in Wuhan, China adjusts her infant son’s mask. The city, once the epicenter of the global pandemic, has all but returned to normal due to strict public health measures and lockdowns. Source.

In January and February, as COVID-19 first came to the attention and alarm of the world, the Chinese province of Wuhan was the center of the outbreak: frightening images of crowded hospitals, tragic deaths, and a strict lockdown shocked the world. Now, as the pandemic rages on across the world, Wuhan and much of China is returning to life as normal cases have dropped significantly and local transmission has been stopped, according to officials. Gone are cramped hospitals and an unprecedented lockdown. They’ve been replaced by packed parties, large concerts, and a return to normalcy, especially relative to the United States. 

This relative return to normalcy has been used by Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the Communist Party as a political scoring point to gain support and project strength and competence on the world stage. In a televised address last week, Jinping said that China’s success in battling COVID-19 shows the strength of the country and its socialist system, as well as the strength of traditional Chinese culture to cooperate and build consensus for success. In addition, Jinping praised the World Health Organization (WHO) for its work on COVID-19 and promised that China would continue to support the WHO in a “leading role in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.” This defense and ardent support of the WHO is in stark contrast to the United States, where President Trump has formally moved for the U.S to withdraw from the WHO and repeatedly attacked the organization. Trump has said that “China has total control over the World Health Organization” and has accused the WHO of allowing China to “mislead the world” regarding the virus’s spread and severity. 

This back and forth blame game between China and the United States over COVID-19 has made international cooperation to fight the virus between two of the world’s largest and most influential countries extremely difficult. It remains difficult to understand fully who–if anyone–is at fault for the spread of the virus. However, China and other countries are right to point out that despite China’s initial failings, the United States now has by far the most COVID-19 cases in the world, at about 6.6 million, which is due in large part to American federal mismanagement once the virus reached US shores.

In early 2020 as the virus began to spread, China did mismanage several important

aspects of battling the virus, including not immediately notifying the WHO, downplaying the possibility of human-to-human transmission, and using censure and other measures to limit transparency. However, it is fair to recognize that China was facing an unprecedented challenge with little knowledge of the virus or how to contain it initially, and that other governments, including the United States, also significantly mismanaged parts of their COVID response. After the initial stage of the pandemic in China, the government did take consequential measures to slow the spread, including strict lockdowns, widespread testing, and sending personal protective equipment and aid to other countries. 

So, whether Xi Jinping’s recent praise of China’s success fighting COVID-19 is justified is a difficult question to answer. We are still in the middle of the pandemic and still have much to learn about the virus, how it spreads, and its hypothesized initial outbreak in Wuhan. Even though many in China are celebrating the reopening of the country, some still fear that the country is moving too fast to reopen and minimizing the risk that COVID-19 still poses, given the possibility of spikes in infections or worsening conditions in the winter.  

However, it is clear that no country, including both China and the United States, has been perfect in its response to COVID-19, and both countries have had serious flaws in their battles against the virus. The current back and forth of blame between China and the United States is not doing anything to help stop the virus, it is only creating more vitriol and further breaking down the cooperative relationships we need to get through this pandemic.