See You in September? Beijing Motor Show Delayed
The organizers of the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition have rescheduled the event on account of the novel coronavirus. Originally slated to cap off April, the trade show will now be held between September 26th and October 5th.
While China is supposedly coming out of health crisis in better shape than a lot of other countries, there are reasons to doubt the COVID-19 figures published by the Communist Party of China. The situation on the ground could be much worse than state-backed media and the World Health Organization indicate. However, even if the nation’s ludicrously low infection statistics are accurate, it is not surprising to see event organizers exercising caution.
Most countries have enacted travel restrictions and are advising (or demanding) people stay isolated to help combat the virus from spreading. Trade shows wouldn’t have attendees and those that did show up run the risk of spreading infection — which is why we’ve seen so many postponed or cancelled this year.
From the organizers of the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition:
In light of the serious challenges posted by the COVID-19 pandemic, after close consultation with the relevant parties, we, on behalf of the Organizing Committee of the 2020 (16th) Beijing International Automobile Exhibition [sic] (AUTO CHINA 2020), have decided to postpone the auto show which was initially planned at the new and old venues of China International Exhibition Center (CIEC) in April this year so as to effectively protect the health and safety of exhibitors and spectators. The AUTO CHINA 2020 is rescheduled to the following date — September 26 to October 5, 2020.
The spread of the pandemic has entailed the world economy comprehensive shocks. At this difficult time, it has become the consensus and belief of the global auto industry to firmly boost the morale and collaboration to maintain the stability of the world economy. We believe that AUTO CHINA 2020 is destined to be an extraordinary exhibition in the sense of not only an industry grand gathering to display the latest achievements and promote the trade and exchange of the global auto industries, but also an important moment to witness the colleagues across the global auto sector working together, uniting their efforts, overcoming the difficulties and revitalizing the industry!
Consider this a tentative date for the show. While many automotive trade events are being pushed back until the fall — making it an extra busy season this year — some are simply canceling plans for 2020. Postponements could easily become full-blown shutdowns if the situation calls for it. Still, everyone seems to be hoping COVID-19 subsides enough to restore some semblance of normalcy by autumn.
[Image: Carrie Fereday/Shutterstock]
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I have no doubt that an authoritarian government -- or an elected leader with authoritarian preferences, for that matter -- would fudge the numbers. But it's also true that China took this much, much more seriously than we're doing. Check out the article in the New Yorker by the author who was living in Wuhan when this went down. Outside literally every apartment building stood a person who would take your temperature to make sure you had not gotten sick (with one of those remote sensors they just point at your forehead), and would have you walk through a pan of weak bleach solution to disinfect even your shoes, before you went back home. They also would send anyone who was ill to a quarantine center immediately for observation and escalation to treatment if needed (not that there's much we can do about this virus in terms of treatment, other than sticking you in an ice bath if your temperature becomes life-threatening, or use drugs in an off-label way that's probably a coin flip as to whether it will save you or kill you, but I digress). As the world's shop floor, they could turn on a dime to manufacture an enormous amount of tests and protective equipment. And with the Party's plan-for-literally-everything orientation and immense mobilization capability, they built hospitals in days. Here we have so few tests, and such slow test results, that a) it's a statistical certainty that we are undercounting cases, and b) by the time we have enough data to identify a hotspot, we're already much too late. We also don't have nearly enough PPE, and we make states bid against each other for it in the market instead of just providing it. And after 30-40 years of small-government foolishness we literally lack the capability for competent federal emergency response to a major emergency of, well, any kind, whether it's Hurricane Katrina or COVID-19. We used to take this stuff seriously in case the Russkies nuked us or unleashed smallpox or whatever. God help us now.
"But it’s also true that China took this much, much more seriously than we’re doing." That's funny: "Doctor Li had already become a national hero for alerting fellow doctors Dec. 30 in an online post about the emergence of a SARS-like illness, warning them to wear protective clothing to avoid infection. Li, along with seven others in Wuhan, were later arrested by local security police on charges of spreading rumors and forced to sign a document disavowing his statements and agreeing to quit speaking out." — 'South China Morning Post' "Preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the novel corona virus identified in Wuhan, China." — World Health Organization (WHO), January 14, 2020 "In January President Xi Jinping made a decision that would ultimately condemn the world: allowing 5 million people to leave the epicentre of the virus without being screened." — '60 Minutes Australia' | March 29, 2020