China has been successful in controlling the Covid-19 epidemic better than any other country. But at what cost ? Will the next pandemic be that of totalitarianism?
China, which will go down in history as the land of a multi-trillion dollar pangolin barbecue, bringing caviar to the price of Lidl pasta, has spread the Covid all over the planet. Certainly, at first, the Chinese messed up: Li Wenliang, the 34-year-old doctor from Wuhan who had detected the first cases, will be arrested on January 1 of this grim year. Questioned for several hours, he will sign a report acknowledging that he “disturbs the social order”, before dying of Covid a few weeks later.
But China is also the only large country in the world that has experienced economic growth this year. The reason ? Coercion, dictatorship, “forced cohesion”, whatever you like, but the results are impressive. While the Hexagon records 60,000 deaths – count in progress -, China lists only … 4,700. Yes, you are right, the Chinese figures are bogus. But even by multiplying them by 10, we arrive at a total number of deaths lower than ours, and this in a country which is very slightly more populated.
Total ban on going out for the inhabitants of Wuhan, a town of barely 11 million souls, for seventy-six days; control of each inhabitant by an application which only authorizes them to take public transport or to go to work if the code is green; massive and rapid tests in areas where it was needed… The technical ingredients of Chinese success are known.
But if the Middle Empire has, it seems, defeated the dirty beast that will still haunt us for months, it is thanks to the formidable efficiency of autocracy, which prevents debates between doctors more or less knowledgeable about TV shows, and who can rely on social control at all times. As written this enthusiastic article from Figaro, “This was made possible by state control over society. […] Compliance with the restrictions was not ensured by cameras or drones, but by volunteers and neighbors ”. Very good !
–
This Chinese success should give us pause. Let’s take two opposing situations: normal life, before the Covid, and the pandemic. Who do you think the future will look like the most? Between the spread of poverty, the collapse of public services and the foreseeable accumulation of climatic disasters, I will let you guess. In France, a country whose teachers have praised the “temperate climate” for centuries, the simple management of water has become an insurmountable headache in many departments, a source of very serious conflicts, threats, intimidation and physical violence. And not just at the Sivens dam. Across the country, we fight hard for… the fleet!
Ideally, these issues – poverty, ecology, public services – could be a magnificent opportunity to regenerate democracy, by giving populations and local elected officials the means to resolve them, especially since they are interrelated. But in practice, for the moment, it is the “Chinese model” which has won the first round. If we do not want it to inspire political leaders and “intellectuals” often fascinated by authoritarian regimes, we will have to invent effective progressive solutions, and preferably very quickly. •
–
