I think the Chinese are running the risk of causing a
LOT more deaths from SARS inside China if they don't come clean (both figuratively and literally) about this disease.
People forget that China has something like 1.3 billion people, the vast majority of which live in the eastern half of the country. A 5% mortality rate could mean the death toll from SARS could reach as high as 65 million, way more than the number of people killed from the infamous Spanish flu outbreak of 1918.
Given China's population density in the eastern part of the country, it wouldn't be unreasonable to eventually see nerly 1/2 the population become infected. That's 650 million people. At nearly 20% death rate (and that's prior to overloading the health care system to complete collapse), then the death toll on China could exceed 130 million people. Combine that with a worldwide ban on ANYTHING from China, I'd say that they would be looking at the early middle ages at best here.
I wouldn't call this The Stand Lite - it may indeed turn into the full strength version should this thing mutate into a more deadly strain. Illicit bioweapons production can become more deadly to the offending nation than their intended targets. Not to gloat, but if that is the case I have no pity for them whatsoever.