Public Health, National Strength, and Regime Legitimacy: China’s Patriotic Health Campaign

Modern public health initiatives are usually assessed according to their contribution to preventing or controlling the spread of disease. But there is also a crucial political dimension to such assessments. As the COVID-19 pandemic indicated, no country is more sensitive to the connection between public health and regime legitimacy than China. This article discusses the important role of public health efforts in the legitimation of Chinese Communist Party rule, from revolutionary days to the present.