Pandemic or not, it is a major embarrassment for China

If the international impact does not make anyone vibrate in China, that of the country could. It takes something scary enough for a government to lock out cities with millions of residents. Imagine our government doing this in Melbourne and Sydney. It’s a fair bet that when a government is scared, so are people.

China now has millions of citizens living in fear of their lives and those of their families. The Internet tells us that people have resorted to throwing beloved pets from the balconies of apartment buildings for fear that they will be carriers of the virus. It is understandable that with such a sudden and virulent epidemic, health resources will not be able to cope. But if it is your mother or brother who cannot be tested because there are not enough kits or cannot get a bed, you are not looking for reasoned argument. Looking for someone to blame. Disinfecting the streets at night is like a science fiction film, except that the people of Wuhan live there. Everyone in Hubei knows that something went wrong.

China carries a bitter burden of past humiliations. Not only is this nasty story a new humiliation, his own perpetrated by their own. The dismissal of a few senior officials is a way of blaming the central government. There are two problems with this answer. It is probably considered by locals to be far from proportional to the heartache and inconvenience inflicted on millions of their own. More importantly, they may think that a good deal of the blame lies elsewhere. Nobody likes to see people scapegoats. Those who do it to others make themselves appear weak.

It seems to some that Xi Jinping is the strong man there for as long as he wishes. A president of the time, Mao. I would not be so confident. Of course, a peoples revolt where some leaders are hanging by their ankles like Mussolini or after a quick test run like the Ceausescus does not seem likely.

Loading

Culture in China can now be dependent on the current style of government. The level of development in recent decades has been staggering. Millions of people are lifted out of poverty. They can be more forgiving than they should be with respect to corruption, a harsh rule, and initial inaction that lets a virus infect the world. In addition, the levels of monitoring and treatment of dissidents make speaking out a very risky business – not just about the coronavirus but any criticism from the government.

The protests in Hong Kong demonstrated two things. People love freedom and are willing to do a lot to get or keep it. He also showed that the Chinese government can no longer ignore the mass protests like that happened in Tiananmen Square. They might not be able to get away with it in Hong Kong and might not be able if there were very large protests on the mainland.

The real danger can come from the government. There is no political system where the ambition of everyone, except the leaders, is set aside. Xi Jingpings' anti-corruption campaign has eliminated many enemies or challengers … but not all. This humiliation is an opportunity for those who have ambition.

Does anyone seriously imagine that everyone at or near the summit in China agrees with Xi Jinping on everything and especially on the extension of his reign? It is a laughable proposition.

Loading

Imagine that you are ambitious and highly placed in the Chinese government. If you were concerned about your country's reputation or thought that your chances of promotion would be better without it, you would not let this humiliation for China go to waste. People will want someone to blame. The retribution always comes later.

If it is shown that the poor old bats or the little sweet pangolin are unjustly blamed for this bug and that the real source is an organic laboratory near the market responsible for it, China and its leaders will still lose more face.

Amanda Vanstone is a regular columnist and former Minister of the Coalition.