CHINA’S SECRETIVENESS ABOUT SARS is hurting its credibility worldwide, according to this report:

China’s restrictions on information about a highly infectious respiratory illness has undermined five years of diplomacy intended to alter its image as a prickly regional power and to improve relations with neighboring countries, Asian politicians and analysts say.

Beijing’s secretiveness for much of the last several weeks about severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, contrasts sharply with the openness of its neighbors, even one-party states like Singapore. It also reflects the emphasis China puts on overall social stability above individuals’ well-being, many argue.

The reaction to China’s handling of SARS has been pronounced in Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as in Singapore. Politicians, editorial writers and health experts have criticized the Chinese suppression of bad news, and apparent dissembling about SARS-related statistics, as a big step backward that undercuts its influence.

This sort of behavior, of course, dooms China to the status of a second-rate power, in both war and peace.