Chow Yian Ping

Opinion | The West has lost its way, but China may not be the beneficiary, says historian Wang Gungwu

The Singapore historian observes how the world has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Chinese becoming more nationalistic

Much will depend on whether China’s alternative perspective is attractive to those who are now more sceptical of what the West stands for

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Sinologist and historian Wang Gungwu, pictured during the launch of ThinkChina. Photo: Handout

Chow Yian Ping

Published: 7:00am, 21 May 2020Updated: 2:28pm, 21 May 2020

As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads across the globe, human lives are being threatened and daily activities are impacted on an unprecedented scale and intensity. People everywhere are trying to understand the disease and the turmoil it has brought upon the politics, economics and society of nations.

The chasm between China, where the epidemic first erupted, and the Western world has worsened, creating cross-cultural debates on ways of governance, globalisation, national and ethnic identities, and ideologies. While many try to be rational, others are resorting to hate speech and blame games. Amid the pandemonium, most people want to know where we are now, what we are facing, and how we can move forward.

ThinkChina editor Chow Yian Ping speaks to eminent historian Professor Wang Gungwu, of the National University of Singapore, for his thoughts on these issues.

Chow: The Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed anti-China and anti-Chinese sentiments around the world. Within China, Chinese nationalist feelings have also risen sharply. How will the world’s perception of China and the Chinese develop after this? How will China see the US and the West? And what does this mean for Singapore – a multicultural nation with a Chinese-majority population?

Wang: Most people agree that the Chinese authorities did eventually move fast to control Covid-19 and were remarkably successful in limiting the spread within the PRC. But the world also knows that the system was slow to report the epidemic’s seriousness, that the warnings were late, and valuable time was lost.

People in East Asia were surprised by how poorly some advanced countries in western Europe handled the epidemic. In particular, the confusing developments in the US were truly astonishing. The situation is still evolving. It is not clear how much further the US will politicise the issues to place the blame entirely on China and how much more anti-Chinese feelings that might arouse. Popular anger inside the PRC has sometimes forced Beijing to overreact: that might please some Chinese, but such overreactions do little for China’s efforts to make new friends.

Opinion | The West has lost its way, but China may not be the beneficiary, says historian Wang Gungwu

The Singapore historian observes how the world has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Chinese becoming more nationalistic Much will depend on whether China’s alternative perspective is attractive to those who are now more sceptical of what the West stands for

The Singapore historian observes how the world has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Chinese becoming more nationalistic

Much will depend on whether China’s alternative perspective is attractive to those who are now more sceptical of what the West stands for