We should understand that in the initial days of the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, the decision-making process was frozen due to systemic challenges within the Chinese government associated with the deepening authoritarian rule under Xi Jinping. This should be differentiated from the decision to lock down Wuhan and Hubei, and to marshal national resources to fight the virus in both Wuhan and Hubei. What we've seen is that once the decision was made to marshal resources, the Chinese government was able to effectively, if not in an inhumane way, control the spread of the virus within China.
I think that distinction is very important. I think the ambassador's comments are reflective of that distinction, rather than naïveté about the Chinese response. Again, I think we should emphasize that the initial response was a disaster, but once the decision was made to marshal resources, the Chinese government has been able to employ not only technology but also significant resources to curb the spread in China.