Le Figaro (France): Press Comment on the Alarming Spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Excerpt)

Will the virus trigger a revolution in Beijing? Sars would then have the same political impact on China that Chernobyl had on the former Soviet Union. In both cases, the first reflex was to lie. In both cases, it was the foreign consequences which imposed the truth. In 1986, Mikhail Gorbachev suddenly had to act and tell the truth. But this glasnost - transparency - forced him to perestroika, a renewed structure which led, in 1989 to the fall of the Berlin wall and in 1991 to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Concerning Sars, the Chinese leaders consented to confess only to protect their system. Once the ball is rolling, they might face a lot of troubles to stop it. In a regime based on lies, truth is revolutionary. (Le Figaro, France)

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