Domestic Contestation, International Backlash, and Authoritarian Resilience

How Did the Chinese Party-state Weather the Covid-19 Crisis

Bibliographic Data

ID12422675
AuthorsXiangfeng Yang (0000-0001-7411-9272, Yonsei University, South Korea, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume30
Issue132
Pages915-929
Publication date2021-02-24
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary China (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1067-0564 • E-ISSN: 1469-9400
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10670564.2021.1893557
OpenAlexW3133301659
LanguageEN
Citations received8

This article aims to provide a first-cut analysis of the causes of the initial COVID-19 outbreak as well as the subsequent political contestations in which the masses ended up rallying behind the party-state. While the Wuhan fiasco had everything to do with entrenched pathologies of the bureaucratic state, after Beijing took central command of the broader campaign its overriding priority was to contain the virus with a goal toward salvaging its legitimacy at home. To that end, Beijing unleashed its warrior diplomats to aggressively defend its handling of the pandemic, even to the detriment of its international image. Nevertheless, the strategy worked because the nationalist and populist backlash against the regime's foreign and domestic critics helped turn the public opinion around in its favor

Authoritarianism · Backlash · Beijing · Bureaucracy · China · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Democracy · Development economics · Economics · Legitimacy · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Resilience (materials science · Sociology · State (computer science · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Law

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