Introduction
Today’s piece is about COVID 19. It is a difficult topic because there are so many perspectives. This event is like a mirror, reflecting all the beauty and shame of the society. Here I chose the word society because it incorporates citizens, government officials, political systems and many other parts. In this piece I ask myself to describe instead of judging because it is too hard to say right or wrong for almost any issue.
For instance, the centralization of power in recent years is blamed for the appointment of many “good-student” officials who are good at listening to their bosses but do not have the abilities or sense of responsibilities to make independent decisions. However, without the centralization it would be nearly impossible to have nearly all local civil servants to get back to work on the third day of the Spring Festival holiday to register the new arrivals at the toll stations of the expressways or at the gate of residential apartment blocks.
For another instance, the death of Dr. Li Wenliang, who alerted his friends through a WeChat group about the virus in early January, blamed to be spreading rumors by the local police because he said the virus was SARS in the message, and later caught COVID 19 while treating patients, caused tremendous anger among the Chinese people. On the night of his death and the subsequent day, WeChat moments, WeiBo and many other social media were filled with RIPs for him. However, a week later it is hard to see a twit about him anymore. The majority of the public may not recall their own anger on this issue a year later. Civil society in China? Still a long way to go.
Therefore, I hope to take a narrative perspective. I want document two topics related to government policies. The first is the so called “群防群控” (qun2 fang2 qun2 kong4). It is a strategy to ask all citizens and social organizations (firms, residential apartment blocks, residential committees, etc.) to participate the prevention movement. In the end it is this massive movement that affects the daily life of ordinary citizens outside Hubei. The second is the central government mechanisms established to help contain the outbreak. This would provide a chance to see how central government operates after the reforms in the past 8 years.
Prevention and Control For All
From the perspective of an ordinary citizen, the current countermeasures are really the strictest in the past 20 years. Since late January, the government started Operation Mass Prevention. This is like a massive civil movement calling every citizen to participate the disease prevention. Many efforts are devoted to ask people not to visit shopping malls or their relatives. All TV channels and radio stations are showing slogans asking people to pay attention to the disease. On the street literally everyone is wearing face masks. Yes, from street cleaners to security guards, from food-delivers to cab drivers, everyone is wearing face masks. Even my parents, who refused to turn on the air purifier under 150 AQI, start to wear masks whenever they go out for groceries.
Arrivals’ control is also escalated to the highest level. I flew from Changchun to Shanghai on Feb 14. Before entering my apartment in Shanghai, I had to report my itinerary and my health condition three times. First upon boarding the plane (to flight administration authorities), second before exiting the Shanghai airport (to the Shanghai government), and the third time upon entering my apartment building (to the residential committee). Three of the four gates of my residential apartment block were sealed, and the only functioning gate is secured with two guards holding a thermometer. Only those with normal body temperature and hold a pass issued by the local residential committee are allowed to enter. A big shelf was set up near the gate to hold food and express deliveries (before these were delivered to the apartment doors).
Many offices and campuses are still empty. Pudong District, where my office is located, requires all people arrives in Shanghai to conduct a 14-day home observation before entering any office buildings. As far as I know, most companies in the financial industry in Shanghai are extending the work from home policies. Most schools resumed lectures and classes over the Internet. Many professors are in a hard time adjusting themselves to use Zoom or other platforms for teaching. Tsinghua and Peking do not allow students going back to campus (through strict dorm access control). PhD students, especially those who needs their labs for research, may have to delay their graduation.
These strategies are not only implemented in Shanghai. In my hometown, Changchun, my parents had to register their contact and health information at the toll gate of the expressway after seeing me off the airport. In the county in Inner Mongolia where my grandma lives, my two uncles working in the local government were assigned to conduct registration and access control since the third day of the Spring Festival Holiday, one at the expressway toll station and the other one at a residential apartment block.
Central Government Mechanism
After the 18th CPC National Congress, the working mechanism is shifting towards a three-layer structure. The top level is the Standing Committee of the Polit Bureau (chaired by Xi Jinping). It has the authority to decide on major issues regarding the fundamental principles or strategies. The mid-level is the subgroups or subcommittees, usually chaired by Xi Jinping, vice chaired by one or two other Standing Committee members (such as Premier Li Keqiang), participated by one or two Polit Bureau members (such as Vice Premiers) and relative ministers from the government (before the 18th CPC Congress these groups were usually not chaired by the No. 1 guy of the Standing Committee). These groups usually decide on specific policies or propose policies to the Standing Committee. The bottom level is the specific ministries or committees in the State Council. They are in charge of implementing the decisions of the top level and the mid level.
Upon the outbreak of the COVID 19, the bottom level moved the fastest. On Jan 20, the day when experts found sound evidence on inter-person transmission, the State Council established the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism under the written guidance of Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang. This mechanism is convened by the National Health Commission and participated by the other 31 ministries and committees of the central government related to transportation, industrial production, publicity and others. The meetings of the Mechanism were chaired Vice Premier Mrs. Sun Chunlan who is in charge of education and public health in the State Council. She is also a Polit Bureau Member. This mechanism is coordinating many country-wide operations such as sending doctors and nurses from other provinces to Wuhan and Hubei (by now more than 40,000), managing the production and allocation of medical appliances such as masks and protective suits, managing the production and allocation of meat, vegetables, grains and many others.
On Jan 25, the second day of the Spring Festival holiday and third day after the lock-down of Wuhan, the top and the middle started to function. The top level (the Standing Committee) convened a meeting (chaired by Xi Jinping), reemphasizing the seriousness of the outbreak, and ordering all levels of government officials to set outbreak prevention as the top priority. The meeting set up the CPC Leading Group of COVID 19 Prevention (which is the mid-level layer). Unlike other groups, this one is chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, rather than Xi. Its members include 4 Polit Bureau members and 3 State Councilors (State Councilors are equivalent to Vice Premiers). Currently, most specific decisions, such as delay the reconvene of schools and kindergarten doubling the salary of doctors and nurses working in Hubei Province, are made by this Leading Group. Premier Li personally went to Wuhan on Jan 27 (two days after the establishment of the Leading Group).
Another special mechanism set up on Jan 25 is the Central Government’s Guiding Group to Hubei Province. This group is chaired by Vice Premier Sun Chunlan and participated by staff from various ministries, such as National Health Commission and National Development and Reform Commission (in charge of medical supply production and allocation), and has been working in Wuhan for more than a month. This Guiding Group is like a frontline command implementing the decisions of Beijing and sending requests and suggestions from Hubei.
Since late January, many meetings have been convened in all these layers. How well this system functions may only be judged when the outbreak is finally contained and more information is released.
