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This week’s #GLOVicarius webinar featured Dr. Xin Sun, Assistant Professor of Chinese and East Asian Affairs at King’s College London, who teaches the Political Economy of Contemporary China course to scholars reading as a component of the summer program China: Political and Economic Development in the Northwest. In this webinar, Dr. Sun discussed the “Chinese model,” China’s unique governance model, as it relates to China’s political economy in the post-COVID-19 era.
Dr. Sun explained three main features of the “Chinese model,” China’s unique governance structure: authoritarianism, political centralization, and strong state capacity. While the latter is “a condition for any effective governance, whether in democratic or authoritarian contexts,” Dr. Sun argued that authoritarianism and political centralization were key elements that affected the Chinese government’s reaction to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Specifically, Dr. Sun argued that authoritarianism in China, coupled with “intrusive state rule and limited respect for civil liberties and individual rights,” has allowed the Chinese government to adopt “draconian measures to impose isolation, monitoring, and quarantine” at the expense of the population. Dr. Sun also said that while restrictive and invasive of privacy, those measures “have proven incredibly effective in restricting the spread of the pandemic. “
China’s style of political centralization concentrates strength in the hands of central leaders, restricting the strength and resources of local government officials; As a result, Dr. Sun noted that leaders’ distrust of local officials is “completely entrenched” due to concerns from political rivals, especially in times of crisis. This contributed to the local government’s initial slowness to act in the face of the pandemic. waiting for permission and resources from central government leaders.
“This formula is designed to limit the discretion and strength of local governments, but it is not suitable for a crisis” such as a pandemic, Dr. Sun said. In the event of a pandemic, local governments want strength and institutional authority to expropriate resources to meet emergency needs in their area.
After China’s central government declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Dr. Sun said local government officials engaged in a “tournament” of sorts, taking “very drastic measures” to flatten the curve and engage the pandemic, adding that overreactions and lack of information such as Some local officials have destroyed roads in rural spaces to prevent other potentially angry people from traveling to their area.
Dr. Sun also attributes this reaction to the Chinese model. “Poor functionality [in containing the pandemic] would give the impression that venues are disloyal to President Xi or demonstrate incompetence,” he said.
Ultimately, Dr. Sun argued that the Chinese government’s style concentrates force and restricts the discretion, force, and resources of local authorities. He argued that if China’s central government had responded earlier to the outbreak and been more transparent with the public, the pandemic could simply have been contained more quickly in China and even around the world.
Watch the full webinar:
About the #GLOVicariesfully Webinar Series:
In the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing anti-racism protests, global engagement across differences and the progression of intercultural competencies are key to building a more just and non-violent world. We need to continue to foster global learning opportunities for scholars. summer 2020 through our virtual webinar series, #GLOVicarianly. The webinars feature speakers #GLOVicarianly interested in GLO systems and experienced in a variety of critical global topics. Check out upcoming webinars #GLOVicarianly.
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