The strength of any leadership anywhere is seen in times of crisis. It is during moments of distress, that governments are made or broken as well. Same goes for institutions, whether political, economic or social.
2020 seems to have delivered a monumental challenge to China in a long time.
The Coronavirus outbreak engulfed one of its provinces and was threatening wallop the rest of the country. With this threat, decisive steps had to be taken, and with speed, if suppressing the rapidly spreading pandemic was to see the light of day.
The matter at hand was gargantuan but the Communist Party of China (CPC) under the leadership of President Xi Jinping appeared equal to the task as it quickly mobilized to fight the menace. Observers say Xi’s leadership was crucial for the country to ultimately bring the epidemic under control.
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Make no mistake, this was a war. A fight for the survival of the 1.4 billion population nation. The ruling party had to put its best foot forward to have any chance of success. And as seen in previous disasters, CPC went all out, using all the strength and resources at its disposal.
The result of this warfare is impressive in every aspect, given that, so far the newly reported confirmed cases in China, especially at Wuhan, the epicenter, have been on the decline.
Yet, in the beginning, it is not a secret that China’s responses were met with some criticism. Nevertheless, looking at the present situation, especially in Europe, America, and other parts of Asia, the world is beginning to appreciate the gravity of the challenge at hand and the efforts put in place by China to contain COVID-19.
Early February, the ruling party luminaries in Hubei province were suspended and replaced over suspected lethargy in the initial response to the outbreak.
Getting down to work and in a bid to slow down the contagion, the ruling party, under Xi’s leadership, ordered the use of the entire country’s resources to tackle the epidemic.
Moving quickly, the Central Military Commission under President Xi’s leadership sent a medical contingent to the epicenter. Most of these People’s Liberation Army personnel are trained to respond to disasters. To date, more than 10,000 soldiers are in Wuhan on the frontline to contain COVID-19.
As the Military component went in, authorities were ordered to impose full and strict control over outbound population flows.
Shortly after, Beijing announced the suspension of all public transport and stopped both air and rail traffic. In an unprecedented move, Wuhan city residents were then placed under quarantine.
With this lock off, authorities sterilized the cities, took temperatures of people everywhere upon entry and exit, built special hospitals, and special fever clinics where those who tested positive were taken, away from their families. Locals were subjected to regular fever checks.
Authorities appeared to ignore global norms for responding to epidemics. Some critics warned that the heavy-handed approach was ill-advised and could end up worsening the situation.
These drastic measures according to President Xi required “huge political courage.” He maintains that resolute action needed to be taken “otherwise, we would be in trouble.”
The Chinese leader chaired several meetings including numerous sessions with the Politburo Standing Committee, which is a top decision-making organ of the Communist Party of China. There was only one agenda on the table, fighting Coronavirus.
He also mobilized the over 90-million ruling party members to make donations toward the epidemic response.
Heeding this call, more than 42 million members of the Communist Party of China had made voluntary donations of 4.73 billion yuan for the epidemic control as of the first week of March.
The donation campaign has been ongoing, and is set to continue at least, until victory is declared against the disease.
The party mobilized and dispatched another 42,000 medical practitioners from all over the country to Hubei. Experts and specialists in other fields were all called into Wuhan to assist in different other ways.
Not to be left behind, young medics who are CPC party members enlisted for the anti-epidemic battle.
But, this is why hospitals were quickly set up. In record time, sports venues were transformed into makeshift health centers. In a short time, everything from surgical masks, ventilators, to respiratory equipment was delivered to the epicenter.
None other than the World Health Organization has expressed praise to steps taken by the Chinese leadership.
Speaking to the New York Times, Dr. Bruce Aylward who was the leader of the WHO team that visited China, noted that the rapidly escalating outbreak came down faster than would have been expected. He said hundreds of thousands of people in China did not get Covid-19 because of the government’s aggressive response.
Analyzing his two-week stay in China, Dr. Aylward concluded that “China is really good at keeping people alive.”
He said China’s counterattack measures can be replicated.
Commendably, the Communist Party-led government removed the burden from the masses when it made it clear that once confirmed, patients should not be worried about expenses as the treatment is free.
Xi and the ruling party left no doubt that people’s lives were of topmost priority and that this surpassed everything else.
In an extremely aggressive, vigilant and an unprecedented campaign, where people were tested and towns and cities sterilized, China brought new Coronavirus cases down from 15000 in mid-February to just a single case mid-March.
And with the contagion more or less under control, China is now shifting its focus away from the pandemic while concentrating on stabilizing its economy.
The rest of the world may have to borrow the hardline strategies adopted by Beijing in order to arrest the spread of COVID-19.
