Shanghai SARS Cases a State Secret (China caught in lies -- again)

Time Asia ^ | April 24, 2003 | Hannah Beech

[EternalHope]

Utterly incredible.

Time Asia has been doing an outstanding job getting through the lies of the Chinese government.

[Ebenezer]

No surprise here. The truth has been "shanghaied" in China since the Communists took power.

[FreepForever]

I like those WHO guys. They are much, much more useful than Hans Blix. First they forced Beijing to kneel down and admit they were lying. And now, it's Shanghai's turn. The significance of this is: it is the first time in the 54 years People's Republic of China's history that they have to back down and admit they are wrong. Isn't that something?

Imagine having these guys searching for WMD in Iraq... They deserve a medal.

[aristeides]

Ping.

[aristeides]

SARS panic hovers over Shanghai, Internet and SMS rumors proliferate, government remains quiet .

[Eric in the Ozarks]

And, the PO'ed the Canadian government enough for them to "reject" a quarantine of Toronto.

[aristeides]

Beijing's battle with SARS Shanghaied.

[CathyRyan]

The scorpion may really want to cross the river but a scorpion is still a scorpion with a scorpion's nature.

[aristeides]

From this story, Beijing erects roadblocks to fight Sars :

Strong action is not limited to the capital, however. In Shanghai visitors from affected areas will have their temperatures taken on arrival and put into quarantine if infection is suspected.

Propaganda officials in Shanghai were also showing pessimism, telling newspaper editors to prepare their readers for the worst about the spread of Sars in the ci ty.

[Alice in Wonderland]

Bump ... and please add me to your ping list.

Thanks

[aristeides]

SARS forces early close of Shanghai auto show .

[EternalHope]

The scorpion may really want to cross the river but a scorpion is still a scorpion with a scorpion's nature.

Well put.

Taken as a whole, Aristeides's links this morning paint a pretty grim picture of conditions in China. It appears they are going to make saving Sahnghai their number one priority, even ahead of Beijing.

The road blocks and other barriers to travel they are putting up around Beijing and Shanghai are VERY significant.

It is also interesting that the WHO team that was supposed to be going to Guangdong has again been denied access, and "tourists" are banned from large parts of the country.

It looks to me like China is entering a new phase. I predict the SARS story will look a lot different a week from now.

[aristeides]

With stupidity like this, SARS is not going to be stopped in Shanghai: Close proximity to SARS hardly infuses panic.

[aristeides]

WHO warns on Shanghai Sars:

WHO warns on Shanghai Sars

A team of WHO experts is touring hospitals in Shanghai The World Health Organisation has said there are likely to be more cases of Sars in China's second city of Shanghai than officially reported.

A WHO expert said there were likely to be "tens" of cases in Shanghai, rather than the two cases officially reported.

A team from the WHO is currently investigating the spread of the disease in the city, and has extended its visit by an extra day to complete a tour of civilian and military hospitals and meet disease control experts.

Shanghai's inhabitants have long been wondering how China's business hub could have so few cases while numbers have skyrocketed elsewhere, BBC correspondent Francis Markus says.

Dr Wolfgang Preiser, a member of the WHO team in Shanghai, said the disparity between actual and official figures may have arisen because China's classification system is too narrow.

At the moment, to be confirmed as a Sars sufferer, a person must either have had contact with a Sars patient or have been in a region classed as a Sars epidemic area.

But with the disease rapidly spreading, this definition is inadequate, Dr Preiser told the BBC.

Either the epidemic area needed to be expanded - perhaps to encompass the whole of China - or the criteria needed to be altered, health experts said.

But Dr Preiser also said the situation in Shanghai was nowhere near as bad as in Beijing, because the authorities had acted much faster to monitor and prevent the disease.

In contrast to its criticism of China's general handling of the disease, the WHO has praised Shanghai for its efforts to contain Sars.

Many people now wear protective masks in the city, and the authorities have taken measures to disinfect public areas.

Shanghai has also urged migrant workers not to return home, and asked companies to stop hiring staff from affected areas.

[EternalHope]

Sahnghai = Shanghai.

Medic, quick... More coffee....

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Propaganda officials in Shanghai were also showing pessimism, telling newspaper editors to prepare their readers for the worst about the spread of Sars in the city.

Isn't "free" trade great!...I'm soooo glad we granted China MFN status...makes me wannna go right out to WalMart and buy something to help these poor people.

/HEAVY SARCASM

[Dog Gone]

Eventually I think we'll get an accurate picture out of Shanghai. There are too many foreigners.

But it certainly sounds like local officials aren't interested in being transparent yet.

[FreepForever]

The usual practice of a totalitarian government is to sweep everything under the carpet. Sooner or later, the bulge under the carpte will become too big to step over it that even the blind knows there's something funny beneath. Look what is happening in Beijing now.

After the sacking of the Health minister and Beijing mayor, the Shanghai officials are still not getting the message. These guys must have their brains checked.

[CathyRyan]

I was totally up beat that HK looked to be puting it back in the box now I am not so sure. What do you think?

PS I have spent so much time on these threads that I had to take a break. I now have 1/2 my yard mowed and the neighbors are uncorking champagne.

[CathyRyan]

I was totally up beat that HK looked to be puting it back in the box now I am not so sure. What do you think?

PS I have spent so much time on these threads that I had to take a break. I now have 1/2 my yard mowed and the neighbors are uncorking champagne.