China blames the world for not containing COVID-19 (Wuhan Coronavirus)
BeWater(26 Feb) Because China failed to contain the coronavirus in its early stage, thenationwide outbreak is now a global outbreak. The scale of impact on the global economy is still unclear, but it must be significant.
For those lovers unable to meet up due to cancelled trips, companies unable to fulfill orders due to the Chinese supply chain collapse, workers unable to report to duty due to quarantines, and patients killed by Wuhan Pneumonia, who should be responsible for their losses, mentally and physically?
The pandemic is neither an accident nor a natural occurence. It is a man-made disaster caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This kind of calamity is not new to the CCP.
Nobel Economics Prize Winner Amartya Sen, who ascended to fame through the research on the correlation between political system and famine, concludes that famines will not happen in a country under democratic system no matter how poor it is. India (after independence) is a typical example. On the contrary,in an autocratic government, regardless of the effectiveness of their policies, large scale starvation will occur from time to time. For instance, during the Great Leap Forward, the government did not have a good knowledge of the society, and did not feel the public pressure typical in a democratic society to alter their policies. Therefore, the mistakes lasted for 3 years, while people were suffering from wide-spread starvation. The ruling party heard no voice from the opposition party (as there wasn’t any) and no criticism from the people. Some officials were even fooled by their own propaganda, believing there was adequate rice supply during the famine.
Although the coronavirus outbreak is different from famine, both disasters shared many commonalities. They were made worse by state censorship under high-pressure governance. When the virus was first identified, the leadership was unable to learn about the facts and, hence, believed the virus was under control. Eventually, a substantial catastrophe was induced. The CCP has not learnt from their mistakes and caused this global threat. China has an undeniable responsibility.
However, the Chinese Government feels no guilt at all. It even starts to criticise the “inefficiency” of other countries in combating the coronavirus.“We are worried that some countries are responding too slowly on preventing the outbreak,” the state media Global Times wrote on 23-Feb.
It continues, “(S. Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy) are now focusing on the risk of an epidemic and taking several preventive measures…… but none of them has reached the same level as China during the beginning stage. It is worrisome that these countries may not have adequate measures to contain the outbreak…… A gentle and limited precaution is unlikely to defend the coronavirus. The outbreak may spread in a few days without being noticed.”
China’s incompetence let COVID-19 spread globally, bringing on a worldwide outbreak. And China criticised the travel ban imposed by foreign countries as racism and overreaction. Yet, at the same time, China is ridiculing other countries for being incapable of containing the virus. By doing so, China is implying to have implemented the best practice, and other countries are either doing too little or too much. This behaviour is utterly shameless.
As the outbreak is worsening in other countries while China is seemingly improving by data manipulation, we can anticipate China to continue to belittle other countries’ effort. Sooner or later, China will even frame other countries for “importing cases.”All countries must be careful about this kind of disinformation campaign. The only way to fight back is to clarify that the coronavirus is originated from China, and that the authoritarian CCP has not taken effective measures to contain it. Countries and their people around the world should start filing claims and lawsuits against the Chinese government for losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak. It not only avoids taking the fall for the epidemic, but also holds China liable. In the future, the precedent can prevent similar crises from occurring again. This is a must-do.
Editor's Note: Author Ho-Fung Hung is the Henry M. and Elizabeth P. Wiesenfeld Professor in Political Economy in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and in the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Source: RFA (26-02)