The year 2020 can be described as a year of great chaos, exploration and reflection. The novel coronavirus pandemic lasted the entire year, with China being a constant focus of the world. COVID-19’s impact is violent, and it has exposed the true face of every system and every governance model. The public health crisis has tested the driving forces and power of every society. This is a year full of sadness and dramatic changes. China, the hardest-hit country at the initial stage, successfully reined in the virus, while Europe and the US have become the epicenter. The US has turned out to be the world’s biggest failure in the fight against COVID-19. This is unimaginable and shocking. China’s comprehensive fight against the epidemic has undoubtedly achieved the best result among major countries. However, the US and the West have intensified their attacks against China over COVID-19 and the related issues. Positive sentiment toward China among Western public opinion declined sharply. This is hard to understand. In the face of such a huge crisis, some societies are willing to proactively confront it, adjusting through objective self-examination. But some societies are passive, as they reject reality and stick their heads in the sand. Chinese society has long faced controversies about its “system.” Due to ideological pressure and inducement from the West, no matter what happens in China, even a trivial matter at the basic societal level can easily expand into a debate over systems. There are not many resources that can help Chinese society better understand systems. The materials that Chinese people can refer to are normally about the failure of the Soviet Union, the leading position of the West, results of “color revolutions,” achievements of China’s reform and opening-up, and that the Chinese mainland has quickly caught up with the island of Taiwan in terms of economy. These materials have different sources, backgrounds, and historical conditions, and have their own reasons. Therefore, they testify to different views. This pandemic has created almost identical shocks and challenges for all countries. Every society has faced the same enemy and endured the same dangers, and they must use all their strength to face the various damages COVID-19 has caused. Therefore, this pandemic has provided unprecedented comparability to test the efficiency of different governance methods. Indeed, such a test does not explain everything, but it has opened new cognitive room for Chinese society and added to Chinese people’s experience of understanding different political systems. Western movies, books and reports on their advanced technology and strict rule of law, as well as the social scenes seen by Chinese people during their travels to the West, have all shaped our good impression of the Western system. Although there are also some criticisms of the Western system’s weaknesses, they are all at the level of public opinion. –The Daily Mail-Global Times News Exchange Item
