WUHAN

An examination of how a culture that emphasizes stability was ill-prepared for massive disruption.

The global responses to the Covid-19 pandemic will be debated for many years, but this book provides a granular account of how it started. Yang, a senior political scientist and China specialist at the University of Chicago and author of a number of academic books about China, delves deeply into the first months, drawing on the records of the time and his own contacts. He notes that the Chinese government is usually seen as a dictatorial monolith, but in practice, this is not really true. Overlaps and gaps of authority are common at the local level, and framing it all is an obsession with stability. Consequently, when reports of an unusual illness connected to the Huanan Seafood Market began to appear, people were reluctant to sound the alarm. Even when information eventually filtered up to the higher levels of the health authorities, little happened, aside from official censorship. At some point, the infection numbers could no longer be ignored, and when Beijing swung into action, it moved fast, sending medical resources to the affected area and imposing a severe lockdown on Wuhan. The delays and obfuscation led to enormous damage. “No amount of investment, state-of-the-art equipment, or talent can make a difference if the public is kept uninformed and those with knowledge are not allowed to speak up or, if they do, are ignored, or even punished,” concludes Yang. Despite this essential lesson, much of the text will be a difficult read for general readers, with many detours and huge amounts of detail. The author’s careful analysis will be most useful for health professionals and policymakers.

A scholarly study of China’s pandemic response shows how trying to control information is the worst thing to do in a crisis.