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China’s first response to doctors reporting the virus was to send police to them and shut them up. I’ll gladly believe I live in a better country.

mikem170 7y ago
I had the impression, based on news articles at the time, that local officials were behind the initial coverup in Wuhan, lasting until national officials rectified the situation.
- gnusty_gnurc 7y ago
  I'm not sure local officials would be behind all the censorship and police abuse that's happened like this: > Three Chinese citizen journalists have also gone missing after they uploaded videos showing a critical view of the situation in Wuhan to YouTube and Twitter. https://qz.com/1816219/chinese-internet-rallied-to-save-a-censored-coronavirus-story/ https://qz.com/1816219/chinese-internet-rallied-to-save-a-ce... > Cai Wei, a Beijing-based man who participated in one such project on GitHub, the software development website, was arrested together with his girlfriend by Beijing police on April 19. The couple were accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a commonly used charge against dissidents in China, according to Chen Kun, the brother of Chen Mei, another volunteer involved with the project. https://qz.com/1846277/china-arrests-users-behind-github-coronavirus-memories-page/ https://qz.com/1846277/china-arrests-users-behind-github-cor...
  - mikem170 7y ago
    Both of the articles you linked to mention local police, in Wuhan and Beijing.
- khuey 7y ago
  This is a common political trope in China used to shift responsibility away from the center and should not be taken at face value.
- ardy42 7y ago
  > I had the impression, based on news articles at the time, that local officials were behind the initial coverup in Wuhan, lasting until national officials rectified the situation. CPP propaganda strategically concentrates blame for any kind of domestic problem on local officials in order make the central authorities seem trustworthy and competent by comparison. While the local Wuhan officials definitely had an independent hand in the mismanagement, the central government had its role, too. It's also arguable that the central government is responsible for the coverup activities by the Wuhan officials, because they're the ones who've created and sustained the system those local officials operate in.
  - mikem170 7y ago
    >It's also arguable that the central government is responsible for the coverup activities by the Wuhan officials, because they're the ones who've created and sustained the system those local officials operate in. I like this line of thinking, I think it better reflects reality then the often heard knee-jerk reaction assuming that China is an evil monolith. I wonder sometimes why I bristle at the comments painting China as an evil monolith. They probably do the same to us. Both systems have their own ways of enriching and defending those in power. Perhaps it is because I don't like to blame others for our problems? The US bungled tests, was late to quarantine, the feds were contradicting states, states were contradicting cities, hospitals muzzled health care workers, etc. None of that really has anything to do with China. It comes across to me as propaganda to blame them for all that!
    - gnusty_gnurc 7y ago
      The US can make mistakes and guess what - the political oppression and police abuse in China is still nothing short of evil.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]

mikem170 7y ago

I had the impression, based on news articles at the time, that local officials were behind the initial coverup in Wuhan, lasting until national officials rectified the situation.

gnusty_gnurc 7y ago
I'm not sure local officials would be behind all the censorship and police abuse that's happened like this: > Three Chinese citizen journalists have also gone missing after they uploaded videos showing a critical view of the situation in Wuhan to YouTube and Twitter. https://qz.com/1816219/chinese-internet-rallied-to-save-a-censored-coronavirus-story/ https://qz.com/1816219/chinese-internet-rallied-to-save-a-ce... > Cai Wei, a Beijing-based man who participated in one such project on GitHub, the software development website, was arrested together with his girlfriend by Beijing police on April 19. The couple were accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a commonly used charge against dissidents in China, according to Chen Kun, the brother of Chen Mei, another volunteer involved with the project. https://qz.com/1846277/china-arrests-users-behind-github-coronavirus-memories-page/ https://qz.com/1846277/china-arrests-users-behind-github-cor...
- mikem170 7y ago
  Both of the articles you linked to mention local police, in Wuhan and Beijing.
khuey 7y ago
This is a common political trope in China used to shift responsibility away from the center and should not be taken at face value.
ardy42 7y ago
> I had the impression, based on news articles at the time, that local officials were behind the initial coverup in Wuhan, lasting until national officials rectified the situation. CPP propaganda strategically concentrates blame for any kind of domestic problem on local officials in order make the central authorities seem trustworthy and competent by comparison. While the local Wuhan officials definitely had an independent hand in the mismanagement, the central government had its role, too. It's also arguable that the central government is responsible for the coverup activities by the Wuhan officials, because they're the ones who've created and sustained the system those local officials operate in.
- mikem170 7y ago
  >It's also arguable that the central government is responsible for the coverup activities by the Wuhan officials, because they're the ones who've created and sustained the system those local officials operate in. I like this line of thinking, I think it better reflects reality then the often heard knee-jerk reaction assuming that China is an evil monolith. I wonder sometimes why I bristle at the comments painting China as an evil monolith. They probably do the same to us. Both systems have their own ways of enriching and defending those in power. Perhaps it is because I don't like to blame others for our problems? The US bungled tests, was late to quarantine, the feds were contradicting states, states were contradicting cities, hospitals muzzled health care workers, etc. None of that really has anything to do with China. It comes across to me as propaganda to blame them for all that!
  - gnusty_gnurc 7y ago
    The US can make mistakes and guess what - the political oppression and police abuse in China is still nothing short of evil.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]