Coronavirus: Pandemic and power

Inscrutable China

Even as the world is struggling to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a subtle spat, nay power transition, happening at the global and regional levels. Despite the initial damage to its global image as it struggled to control the spread of coronavirus from Wuhan to other places of the world, China is now showcasing itself as the alternative to the western world in providing public goods and services to the virus-affected regions.

The ‘isolationist’ policies followed by US President Donald Trump are aiding China in this drive for global outreach. After the initial period of mismanagement in taking prompt action, which led to an estimated five million fanning out of Hubei Province, Beijing swung in to control the virus in Wuhan and declared recently that no new infections have been reported, after more than 3,275 officially reported casualties and over 80,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Today, China is packaging its experience of such virus control as a victory and a model for other countries to emulate. After President Xi Jinping visited the epicentre of the virus-affected areas of Wuhan on March 10, where he remarked about the Communist Party’s “courage to fight and courage to win” and “turning the tide” in virus control, China made a series of initiatives to refurbish its image abroad as the COVID-19 pandemic spread to over 135 countries.

First, Beijing offered help to Iran and Europe, which took the brunt of the Coronavirus infection outside of China. This is a major shift from China’s “limited capacity” argument during the Tsunami crisis of 2004-5 that killed over 25,000 people. Beijing is making swift overtures at a time when Europe, the US and the rest of the world are still in a daze over the virus attack.

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China’s considerations are to reduce the negative global image for mishandling the virus issue in its early phase; secondly to retain its image as the manufacturing hub of the world even as the economy plummets; and finally to position itself as an alternative model in the race to provide public goods and services.

Citing its “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Iran, Beijing sent eight flights and medical teams to help the COVID-19 battered country which witnessed more than 1,500 deaths due to the virus. Likewise, it sent 2,300 boxes of masks and medical teams to Italy, whose leaders have launched a “Hug the Chinese” public relations campaign, with disastrous consequences. President Xi made a suggestion to his Italian counterpart on building a “health Silk Road.” In Spain, President Xi spoke to his counterpart, assuring support and stating that “sunshine comes after the storm.” Of course, a Czech national radio report claimed that 80% of the kits supplied by China have shown inaccurate results for the virus.

Secondly, the external tone of China became hoarser, with one of its foreign ministry officials Zhao Lijian accusing the US military of having triggered the virus. While such an accusation was disowned by China’s ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai, the Sino-US spat has acquired an intense dimension, with speculations of conflict emerging between the two. President Xi’s speech on countering the “devils” was followed by President Trump’s remark on the “Chinese virus”.

China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba announced donation of masks and medical equipment to the US, which is its main market. Earlier, its chief Jack Ma offered multi-billion-dollar investments in infrastructure in the US soon after Trump was elected as President. Nothing concrete came out of this proposal though.

Thirdly, soon after India organised the SAARC leaders’ video conference to counter the virus, China made preparations for health officials of Eurasia and South Asia through video conferencing. Earlier, India donated 15 tonnes of medical supplies to Wuhan in February. No concrete Chinese offer to India has come yet.