How Does China Take on a Virus?
武漢已封城一月之久，以戰病毒之役。如鞦韆受力而擺，疫情讓世界失衡。中國正奮發圖存。
It has been a month since Wuhan was locked down because of the coronavirus. Like a big push on a swing, the epidemic tips the balance in the world, and China is making efforts to keep standing.
中國龐大的國土成爲戰疫的第一挑戰。中國乃泱泱大國，而此次疫情直擊其腹地要害。疫情爆發於1600萬人口的中部大都市武漢。屋漏偏逢連夜雨，武漢周圍城市衆多，人口皆以百萬計。武漢乃交通樞紐，疫情大有擴散至周邊城市之勢。疆土廣闊反倒成爲戰疫的重大阻礙。
The challenge lies in the country’s size. China is a big country with a large span, and the virus hit the center, literally. The epicenter is a metropolis of 16 million people in the middle of the country. To make matters worse, it is surrounded by many cities, also with millions of inhabitants. Wuhan is a transport hub, and the virus is threatening to infect the whole surrounding area. The size of the country is a significant obstacle.
但凡事有弊也有利。由於中國疆土廣闊，不同地區得以相互接濟。武漢告急之時，四面八方來援。此時此刻，全國十分之一的重症監護醫生正奮戰於武漢。4萬餘名醫務人員應急響應，火速奔赴抗疫前線。中國火力全開，應對疫情。
But that’s only half the story. Because of its continental size, all the parts feed off each other. When Wuhan fell, the other provinces came to its aid. As we speak, one tenth of the intensive-care doctors of the entire country is in Wuhan. A total of 40,000 medical staff moved to the center in a wartime fashion. China plans to take the virus full on.
體制之機。戰疫的另一關鍵在於信息傳遞。中國自有其獨特的雙向信息流動，自上而下和自下而上。
Structure matters. Another weight on scale is messaging. China has two-way traffic of communication: top-down and bottom-up.
中國需要改善信息自下而上的傳導。武漢的八名醫生於新型病毒爆發之初便發出警示，然而他們的聲音卻沒有被重視, 國家監委調查組仍在調查事件真相。但是有一點是肯定的:彙報層級過多，手續繁雜，缺乏信息上報動力。
China needs to do better bottom-up. When doctors in Wuhan sounded alarms of the new virus, the message got lost. An investigation is still ongoing on why. But one reason is obvious: there are too many layers, too much red tape and too little incentives to send the messages up.
