Claim China’s Covid-19 ‘success’ has ‘shattered the American myth’ stirs online debate

China’s ability to survive Covid-19 with low death rates has “shattered the American myth”, a controversial political scientist has argued.

In an article posted on Fudan University’s China Institute website last week, Zhang Weiwei said the outbreak, and high death rates in the United States, marked the end of the popular belief it had a superior governance model and criticised those who held that view as “spiritually American”.

“Chinese people, including the people of Shanghai, will never allow the ‘spiritually American’ to dominate our pandemic controls nor will they allow the model of a ‘defeated nation’ to replace our victorious governance model that took down Covid-19,” Zhang, the institute’s director, wrote.

Zhang Weiwei is regularly featured in state media. Photo: Weibo

Zhang Weiwei is regularly featured in state media. Photo: Weibo

“Of course, our model shall evolve with time but even at where we are now, it still far exceeds the American one. The American myth is shattered among the majority of Chinese, especially among the young people,” he added.

A professor of international relations at Fudan, Zhang is known for defending China’s model of political and economic development.

He has regularly featured in state media and argued that analyses of China should move beyond debates about “democracy or authoritarianism” and focus instead on “good or bad governance ”.

He has also brought together debates conducted in the official, academic, public and international spheres.

With a large number of fans at home, the Shanghai native remains a controversial figure especially among liberal scholars who want to reform the country’s economic and political systems.

As a party-endorsed intellectual, Zhang’s remarks met with mixed reaction on Chinese social media, with critics saying he is just toeing the official line.

Since the latest outbreak started, a number of major Chinese cities – most notably Shanghai – have been placed under harsh citywide lockdowns, sparking growing public grief and anger.

The Shanghai authorities have been facing increasing pressure over their handling of the lockdowns, which began on March 28 in some parts of the city and have shown few signs of easing.

But Zhang argued Shanghai was days away from success.

“China is the world’s only mega-economy with positive economic growth [during the pandemic]. Wuhan has succeeded, Shenzhen has succeeded, Xian has succeeded, Jilin has succeeded, Tianjin has succeeded, so why can’t Shanghai succeed?

“Shanghai once strayed away from the anti-epidemic model explored by the Chinese people and took a bit of a detour but is now back on track. The dawn is near,” he wrote.

He also said the “spiritual Americans” were supported by US conspirators and Taiwanese cyber trolls to slander China’s achievements and shake public confidence in the country’s model of governance.

“But this is the end of their time calling the shots as the US model they so worshipped is falling off the pedestal,” Zhang said.

He also compared official fatality statistics in China and the US – just over 5,000 and nearly a million respectively – saying the numbers spoke for themselves.

In 2021, Zhang made a similar claim that Chinese people felt 500 times safer than Americans did in the face of the pandemic.

Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, said it was unfortunate that Zhang’s “one-sided propaganda” – which looked beyond other vital indicators such as livelihoods when measuring a nation’s Covid handling – had chimed with so many people back home.

“He basically was comparing apples with oranges when comparing China’s low Covid-19 death rate with that of the US without looking at the fact that life is almost back to normal in the US and that multiple major Chinese cities are battling with uncertainties and fears of severe economic decline,” Wu said.

“This is not to mention that many deaths in the US occurred before vaccines were widely available for a nation that has never experienced Sars [severe acute respiratory syndrome] before.”

Mimi Lau

end item*

Claim China’s Covid-19 ‘success’ has ‘shattered the American myth’ stirs online debate

Differentiating the effect of social enterprise activities on health

Making norms to tackle global challenges: The role of Intergovernmental Organisations

American Militarism, Its Agents, And Its Next Target: Iran