Patrick Mendis, Visiting Professor of Global Affairs, National Chengchi University
Joey Wang, Defense Analyst
Mar 03, 2020
Despite the severity of the coronavirus outbreak, as forecasted by Dr. Li Wenliang in late 2019, the Chinese authorities decided to maintain secrecy and keep the first cases of the sickness hidden from the world. This aversion to transparency is perhaps the main culprit behind the rapid proliferation of the illness and chaos that ensues today.
Dan Steinbock, Founder, Difference Group
Mar 03, 2020
As the Trump White House has sought to politicize the virus outbreaks, vital time has been lost and collateral damage is likely to haunt the administration.
Li Zheng, Assistant Research Processor, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations
Mar 03, 2020
Cooperation is needed now more than ever. Political stereotypes should be abandoned, joint research should be fostered and critical supply chains should be protected.
Lawrence Lau, Ralph and Claire Landau Professor of Economics, CUHK
Mar 02, 2020
Just as the COVID-2019 epidemic appears to be under control in China, new and serious outbreaks have occurred in South Korea, Italy, Japan, Iran and elsewhere. The virus seems to be ubiquitous and unstoppable. While I am hopeful that the epidemic in China will be over by the end of March, I begin to worry about the possibility of overseas visitors to China bringing the COVID-2019 virus back, starting another episode of the epidemic again. China cannot afford to have its hard-won and costly victory over the COVID-2019 virus annulled by a few infected visitors from abroad.
Andrew Sheng, Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Global Institute at the University of Hong Kong
Xiao Geng, Director of Institute of Policy and Practice at Shenzhen Finance Institute, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Feb 29, 2020
Last October, the 2019 Global Health Security Report included a stark warning: “National health security is fundamentally weak around the world. No country is fully prepared for epidemics or pandemics, and every country has important gaps to address.” Just a couple of months later, a new coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China – and quickly demonstrated the accuracy of the report’s assessment.
Zoe Jordan, Yenching Scholar at Peking University
Feb 28, 2020
“In the wake of the coronavirus, CCP messaging has centered its messaging on three distinct themes: comparisons to the 2003 SARS outbreak, patriotic slogans, and distinctions between local mismanagement and centralized solutions. Whether this messaging will be successful at mitigating government critique remains to be seen.”
Paul Haenle, Director, Carnegie–Tsinghua Center
Lucas Tcheyan, Research Analyst, Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy
Feb 25, 2020
In early February 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter to hail his excellent call with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the coronavirus outbreak. Trump called Xi a “strong, sharp and powerfully focused” leader who was successfully eradicating the coronavirus. That same day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Washington would spend up to $100 million to help Beijing curtail the virus, in addition to the nearly eighteen tons in medical supplies it had already sent to China.
James Chau, President, China-United States Exchange Foundation
Feb 21, 2020
When Dr Soumya Swaminathan was appointed Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization, she became the first-ever person to achieve this role. In the COVID-19 outbreak, she offers not only the skill and experience from 30 years in clinical care and research, but the ability to translate that into impactful programs shaped by equal parts of science and compassion. Last week in Geneva, she gathered the best in global science and R&D funders at a WHO meeting – as part of a wider action plan for the people of Wuhan, and beyond. But, as the weeks speed up, is there enough time to make a lasting difference?
Ma Shikun, Senior Journalist, the People’s Daily
Feb 19, 2020
Accolades flow from around the world as an unparalleled effort is made to contain the epidemic. Many countries offer to help as the central government pledges transparency.
Lawrence Lau, Ralph and Claire Landau Professor of Economics, CUHK
Feb 16, 2020
Just when the daily number of newly confirmed COVID-2019 coronavirus cases seemed to have levelled off in China, it has an unexpected steep jump, from 2,015 to 15,152 on 12 February, or more than 750%. The overwhelming bulk of the increase came from the Province of Hubei, where the number of newly confirmed cases increased from 1,638 to 14,840 on 12 February.