The First Two Months: China’s Information Control on COVID-19 (2021.12)
- Author : Joo-Youn Jung, Eun-Bi Shin
- Publication : Korea and World Politics
- Publisher : THE INSTITUTE FOR FAR EASTERN STUDIES
- Volume : 38(2)
- Date : December, 2021
Abstract: This paper analyzes the Chinese central and local governments’ information control during the early stage of COVID-19 proliferation. Focusing on the critical first two months since the COVID-19 outbreak, between December 1, 2019 and January 23, 2020, it examines how the Wuhan municipal government and the central government concealed and distorted information on the disease by suppressing medical institutions, doctors, and experts, which contributed to the failure in early riposte to the disease and the nation-wide proliferation afterwards. This paper highlights the Chinese governments’ mismanagement of COVID-19 during the first two months is not simply a systematic failure but also a deliberate political choice, holding both the central and local governments responsible for the consequences.