By Lee Seong-hyon
The two most important events for China in 2020 were COVID-19 and the U.S.-China conflict. Chinese leader Xi Jinping used COVID-19 to strengthen his power. U.S. President Donald Trump ignored COVID-19, and lost power. Pandemic politics is a renewed discipline of academic interest for researchers to dwell on.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a non-security issue, and there was consensus on the need for cooperation in the international community. Yet the U.S.-China relationship became antagonized over the origin and the matter of placing responsibility for COVID-19, further exacerbating the bilateral discord that has already been severely punctured since 2018, starting from the trade war.
On Jan. 9,, China's state-run tabloid Global Times argued that China gained "collective confidence" through the U.S.-China trade war, and that "the more we fight, the stronger we become." That was in the early period of the pandemic.
However, the coronavirus, which spread more widely afterwards, not only threatened the legitimacy of China's Communist Party system, but also became so serious that even the possibility of the dismissal of Xi was entertained among international pundits. Culturally speaking, the idea is not entirely impossible, because in the ancient Confucian tradition, the arrival of a natural disaster was often associated with the emperor's "lack of virtue."
The Chinese authorities did what they do well. They took sweeping measures. The government tried to stem the situation by completely blocking the entire city of Wuhan where the virus started, followed by intense quarantine measures.
When Xi first visited Wuhan, it was in March. He was criticized on Chinese social media for avoiding responsibility by not visiting Wuhan in January or February when Wuhan faced the worst coronavirus situation. Xi tried to create a friendly public opinion for him, with the state propaganda apparatus kicking into full swing.
"Xi Jinping 'personally directs and personally arranges'" (qinzi zhihui, qinzi bushu) became the daily mantra by the state media, in describing how the nation fights the virus.
As the U.S.-China conflict extended to ideology and political systems, Xi also underscored the superiority of the socialist system in dealing with the virus over the capitalist system. He said, "Institutional superiority is the country's greatest advantage."
As China's "quarantine war" proceeded effectively, China upped its international promotion of the superiority of its political system. The People's Daily read: "The active, efficient, open and transparent measures taken by the Chinese government gained admiration from people from around the world."
The state-controlled China Daily said, "International community, full of confidence in China's response to the plague." Qiushi, the ideological theory publication of the Chinese Communist Party, also said that China took "the responsibility of a great power" and sent a "reassurance pill" (dingxinwan) to the world, contributing to the public health management of the world. It was the period when China engaged in massive "mask diplomacy."
China appears to have controlled the coronavirus earlier than other countries, and the early economic recovery data, seen from the second quarter, gave Xi and the Communist Party leadership the grounds to reclaim authority. China's GDP in the first quarter fell sharply to minus 6.8 percent, but in the second quarter, it grew 3.2 percent. It recorded 4.9 percent in the third quarter and is expected to grow by 8 percent in the fourth quarter. Its economy is nearly set to recover to the pre-pandemic level. China is also seen as the only major economy in the world to achieve a clear "V" recovery from COVID-19.
The Chinese government also implemented a strict QR code measure that records citizens' personal information and movement data through the Health Code smartphone app, also an electronic pass permit. It also installed facial recognition cameras in apartment compounds in cities. The necessity of virus prevention has served as a convenient opportunity for the Chinese government to strengthen its Orwellian digital control over society.
In summary, in this year's COVID-19 pandemic, Xi's personal power has been strengthened. The Chinese government's digital control over Chinese society has been further solidified with little civic resistance. The Chinese Communist Party leadership also made good use of the Trump government's pressure against China to drum up nationalism and patriotism among the Chinese people to improve national unity. Xi won, Trump lost. And it was the virus that made the whole difference. Will Biden make a difference next year?
Lee Seong-hyon , Ph.D.(sunnybbsfs@gmail.com), is director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is a non-security issue, and there was consensus on the need for cooperation in the international community. Yet the U.S.-China relationship became antagonized over the origin and the matter of placing responsibility for COVID-19, further exacerbating the bilateral discord that has already been severely punctured since 2018, starting from the trade war.
On Jan. 9,, China's state-run tabloid Global Times argued that China gained "collective confidence" through the U.S.-China trade war, and that "the more we fight, the stronger we become." That was in the early period of the pandemic.
However, the coronavirus, which spread more widely afterwards, not only threatened the legitimacy of China's Communist Party system, but also became so serious that even the possibility of the dismissal of Xi was entertained among international pundits. Culturally speaking, the idea is not entirely impossible, because in the ancient Confucian tradition, the arrival of a natural disaster was often associated with the emperor's "lack of virtue."
The Chinese authorities did what they do well. They took sweeping measures. The government tried to stem the situation by completely blocking the entire city of Wuhan where the virus started, followed by intense quarantine measures.
When Xi first visited Wuhan, it was in March. He was criticized on Chinese social media for avoiding responsibility by not visiting Wuhan in January or February when Wuhan faced the worst coronavirus situation. Xi tried to create a friendly public opinion for him, with the state propaganda apparatus kicking into full swing.
"Xi Jinping 'personally directs and personally arranges'" (qinzi zhihui, qinzi bushu) became the daily mantra by the state media, in describing how the nation fights the virus.
As the U.S.-China conflict extended to ideology and political systems, Xi also underscored the superiority of the socialist system in dealing with the virus over the capitalist system. He said, "Institutional superiority is the country's greatest advantage."
As China's "quarantine war" proceeded effectively, China upped its international promotion of the superiority of its political system. The People's Daily read: "The active, efficient, open and transparent measures taken by the Chinese government gained admiration from people from around the world."
The state-controlled China Daily said, "International community, full of confidence in China's response to the plague." Qiushi, the ideological theory publication of the Chinese Communist Party, also said that China took "the responsibility of a great power" and sent a "reassurance pill" (dingxinwan) to the world, contributing to the public health management of the world. It was the period when China engaged in massive "mask diplomacy."
China appears to have controlled the coronavirus earlier than other countries, and the early economic recovery data, seen from the second quarter, gave Xi and the Communist Party leadership the grounds to reclaim authority. China's GDP in the first quarter fell sharply to minus 6.8 percent, but in the second quarter, it grew 3.2 percent. It recorded 4.9 percent in the third quarter and is expected to grow by 8 percent in the fourth quarter. Its economy is nearly set to recover to the pre-pandemic level. China is also seen as the only major economy in the world to achieve a clear "V" recovery from COVID-19.
The Chinese government also implemented a strict QR code measure that records citizens' personal information and movement data through the Health Code smartphone app, also an electronic pass permit. It also installed facial recognition cameras in apartment compounds in cities. The necessity of virus prevention has served as a convenient opportunity for the Chinese government to strengthen its Orwellian digital control over society.
In summary, in this year's COVID-19 pandemic, Xi's personal power has been strengthened. The Chinese government's digital control over Chinese society has been further solidified with little civic resistance. The Chinese Communist Party leadership also made good use of the Trump government's pressure against China to drum up nationalism and patriotism among the Chinese people to improve national unity. Xi won, Trump lost. And it was the virus that made the whole difference. Will Biden make a difference next year?
Lee Seong-hyon , Ph.D.(sunnybbsfs@gmail.com), is director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute.
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