SARS epidemic and
despotism
2003-03-27 / Taiwan News / The
Beijing authorities' deliberate news blackout regarding "severe
acute respiratory syndrome" (SARS), a lethal new type of pneumonia,
has denied the Chinese people their right to information critical to
their health. The preoccupation of the Beijing regime with maintaining
absolute political control has clearly neglected the importance of public
health and has endangered the physical well-being of all of humanity.
Thus far, SARS has been contracted by more than 487 people in Asia,
Europe and North America, and has caused more than a dozen deaths. On
March 15, therefore, the World Health Organization officially declared
SARS a threat to world health.
Where did SARS originate? And why did the SARS outbreak become a global
epidemic?
Based on investigations conducted by Hong Kong authorities, it was
brought into that territory in February by a semi-retired professor of
medicine from Guangdong Province. Three cases of anomalous pneumonia
reported in last November also point to the Foshan area of Guangdong as
the likely geographic origin of SARS.
However, the Chinese bureaucracy prohibited the media from spreading the
news to other areas. Beijing's gag order not only deprived the Chinese
people from information essential to their well-being, but, because even
healthcare personnel have been kept in the dark, also allowed SARS to be
unnecessarily transmitted beyond China's borders to many corners of the
globe.
In an attempt to downplay the severity of the SARS outbreak, the
Guangdong Provincial Government announced in February that spread of the
illness had been brought under control. Despite the egregious dishonesty
of that claim, it wasn't until March 10 that Beijing deigned to formally
notify the World Health Organization of the SARS threat. To this day,
Beijing has persisted in keeping mum on SARS epidemiological conditions,
as if the occurrence of the disease was a top-secret national security
issue.
Refusal to face up to one's ailments and seek timely treatment is
detrimental not only to individual health but, when applied to a society
in general, such an exercise in self-denial constitutes a major
dereliction of duty in public health protection. After all, the PRC
authorities' delay in informing the world, and even their own people, of
the SARS menace is by no means a matter of their ignorance. Rather, it is
the consequence of the fact that one-party Chinese Communist Party rule
has heretofore always regarded the control of information and the
capability to disseminate misinformation as indispensable prerequisites
for maintaining its absolute grip on power.
During the convening of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) earlier this
month, three media publications - China News Weekly, Beijing Youth Daily
and South China Weekend - were "disciplined" and a fourth, the
21st Century Herald was shut down for angering bigwigs in the CCP. These
and uncountable other events underline the Beijing authorities' sick
obsession with news control and self-beautification. Once again, with the
SARS cover-up, we are reminded that in the CCP mentality even so
important a matter as the protection of public health pales in comparison
with keeping a grip on power.
The PRC authorities attempt to legitimize their control of news by
stressing the importance of preserving social stability. Their hamfisted
attempt at censorship actually failed to keep rumors from spreading like
wildfire via the Internet and cell phone grapevine, setting off a
stampede of panicky Guangdong Province residents to buy useless
disinfectants.
This example shows that the deliberate suppression of news that impacts
on matters of fundamental human welfare cannot ensure social stability
and that, on the contrary, failure to provide full information can
aggravate social instability.
Another factor contributing to the Beijing authorities' attempted
cover-up of the SARS epidemic is the Chinese people's traditional
obsession with "saving face." One of the motivations behind
Beijing's gag order was the fear that public acknowledgement of the
problem would hurt China's international prestige.
However, as in the case of Beijing's earlier attempt to keep a lid on
information on the spread of AIDS, the SARS news blackout has served only
to turn a manageable local outbreak into a frightening global pandemic
and, in the process, inflict even more severe harm to China's prestige.
The SARS debacle illustrates yet another malady of the PRC regime: Its
insistence on injecting selfish political concerns into affairs of broad
concern to the welfare of all humanity that transcend narrow political
divisions. As Taiwan's representation in the WHO has been blocked for
many years by the PRC, it is only thanks to the assistance of the United
States and other countries that we have been able to coordinate action on
the SARA epidemic with worldwide health authorities.
The rulers of China deserve the world's condemnation for their
monomaniacal promotion of parochial political interests to the exclusion
of all other considerations, including endangerment to countless lives at
home and abroad through the creation of a global health
catastrophe.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/Editorial/2003/03/27/1048726444.htm
