In The News

Diagnosing SARS in China

May 19, 2003
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...

China Threatens Execution in Intentional Spreading of SARS

Erik Eckholm May 15, 2003
In a remarkable judicial interpretation of existing disease laws in China, the Communist Party has issued new rules allowing for the imprisonment or execution of anyone found to be spreading SARS intentionally. Following severe international criticism for its handling of SARS, China has taken steps to improve the reporting and disclosure of the health threat. The official media has now begun to...

WHO Must Ignore China's Contempt

May 14, 2003
The recent SARS epidemic, believed to have emanated from mainland China, has brought to the forefront the contentious politics of the Taiwan-China relationship. The following editorial from the Taipei Times is a scathing indictment of the Chinese government's refusal to acknowledge Taiwan's sovereignty by impeding its inclusion in the World Health Organization (WHO). Although China...

Sars Crisis: A Case of Too Much Democracy?

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray May 13, 2003
In times of crisis, governments tread a delicate balance between democratic ideals that guarantee civil liberties and autocratic measures for the common good. The ways in which Asian countries have responded to the SARS crisis provides an important case in point. China failed to take stringent measures to pre-empt the spread of SARS, and now it faces a national SARS epidemic that has enormous...

China's poor left behind

Joshua Muldavin May 8, 2003
The rise of Sars virus in China and its spread throughout the world has brought new attention to the negative consequences of creating a global village. In this opinion piece the author questions the value of China’s success in market transition. He says the negative economic effects of Sars in Asia, and its direct human costs, “should make us question the wisdom of our rapidly expanding global...

Halt of SARS in Vietnam Could Hold Lessons for Other Nations

Seth Mydans May 7, 2003
Vietnam, declared Sars-free by the World Health Organization just last week, is being heralded as an example of efficiency for other countries trying to contain and eliminate the Sars virus. The country was lucky in some regards, but its early containment and prevention efforts should not be underestimated. "It was the speed, the leadership, the transparency, the flexibility, the intensity...

China Steps Up the Fight

May 6, 2003
While other countries seem to have had some success in containing the spread of Sars, China is still scrambling to estimate how many infected persons there are and to find ways of treating all in need. Meanwhile, says this Economist article, the total cost of the epidemic within China is nearly impossible to estimate, as the country's government and many industries remain highly secretive...