Diagnosing SARS in China

Highly critical of the Hu government's handling of the SARS epidemic in China, this New York Times editorial's charges are many. Mainly Hu is belittled for not disclosing accurate statistics and for taking punitive measures, thereby turning to "depressingly familiar Communist methods of exhortation and regimentation" instead of looking to modernize China's political system. This, the editorial maintains, is anachronistic with the country's otherwise globalized economic system. Given the highly contagious nature of the respiratory disease and thus its ability to travel without respect for borders, should not China have been more open? And more importantly, will it learn now from the lessons Gorbachev learned after the Chernobyl spill in Russia? – YaleGlobal