China expert: "The dynamics that existed under SARS are repeating"

- The Chinese government should be congratulated for their efforts.

So was part of the several minutes-long celebration of China - signed WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. During a press conference, when the WHO proclaimed a global emergency due to the corona virus, he praised the country's efforts to prevent the spread of the virus.

According to Malin Oud, China expert at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, the praise of the WHO means "the great deal" for China - partly because of the country's tense relations with many countries in the west.

At the same time, there has been criticism that China was late in the reaction - since there were virus cases already in December.

That the Chinese regime has succeeded in shutting down Wuhan, and that the residents are doing what the regime wants, follows a familiar pattern, says Malin Oud. She lived in Beijing during the SARS epidemic.

- It is almost a definite protocol in three steps, I recognize it very well. The first instinct for the party is to control information and how the media reports on the incident, she says.

The other steps are, among other things, to set the narrative of the party as "actionable and heroic", and not to deal with the system errors that may have made the situation worse, says Malin Oud.

Can you say that the totalitarian state makes it possible to close a city and everyone does as the regime says?

- On the other hand, officials lower down in the organization dare not report upwards. There is a requirement from above that China handles everything - and does not want any bad news. It was the dynamics that existed under SARS and are now repeating themselves.

See more in the clip above. You can see the entire interview in SVT Agenda.