Secrecy in a Globalized Economy

niraj says on China Mishandling the SARS epidemic
bq. One wonders why China was not more proactive in this affair? Its reputation is not actually stellar among fellow Asian countries, many of whom see China as a hegemonic power. But this case will reaffirm the view that China is not to be trusted, and is a step back for a country trying to change its reputation from a Communist state to a flourishing democratic power.

Once you are part of a globalized economy, your trading partners will not be very happy if you are hiding information. So if you are an opressive regime who don’t care about people, you will be forced to, even if you don’t want to.
“Hu goes into damage control”:http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/asia/story/0,4386,183938,00.html
bq. Within China, international meetings and forums have been postponed and Guangzhou’s spring trade fair – which last year saw contracts signed that accounted for 14 per cent of China’s exports – has been poorly attended this year. Many countries have discouraged their citizens from travelling to China. The bottom line: China can no longer ignore the rest of the world.
Update: “China and SARS — A Chernobyl Event?”:http://windsofchange.net/archives/003360.html
bq. The economic impact of this when the rest of the world acts to quarantine China (and not just for SARS) in self-defense is going to be immense. The Chinese economy lives of rapid exports to the West. Losing the ability to rapidly market its goods to its competitors because of medical security obstacles means China is no longer the lowest cost manufacturer in the world. The Asian “Tiger” economies will regain their edge on China. Places like Vietnam, which don’t have China’s “lie about disease” cultural meme, may in fact replace China as the world’s low cost manufacturer.
As it loses its economic edge, China will also lose its clout in the USA as the American business “China Lobby” gets mugged by the economic reality of SARS and other Chinese diseases. No American business profit equals no political clout on Capitol Hill or in the White House.
The Communist Dynasty in China lives solely on it’s reputation of delivering the economic goods. If it loses that. Just what does it have left in the way of legitimacy with the Chinese people? That is why SARS is China’s “Chernobyl Event.”
(Link via InstaPundit)
The way the Chinese are going to deal with this, if this is going to be the Chinese Chernobyl will be known as the story develops