The mainstream American media and Chinese state-run media are pretty much running in sync right about now, with American media fully buying into the idea that calling it the Chinese virus or Wuhan virus is racist. Chinese state TV is now calling COVID-19 an American virus in hopes that the narrative that the U.S. Army brought the virus to Wuhan catches on. And American outlets like NBC News are reporting that China, which helped the world by delaying the spread of the virus, is now worried that people from other countries are going to reinfect the Chinese population.
If you need a dose of sanity or just a recap of where we’ve been so far, Shadi Hamid has a great thread to promote his piece in The Atlantic about China’s attempt to shift responsibility for the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. My piece on how the Chinese regime is directly to blame for the world's increasingly dire state is provoking some interesting (and outraged) responses. One legitimate objection is whether "blaming" China is all that important nowhttps://t.co/7F0R6oSx4P
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
2. First, I think it matters a great deal why countries are being devastated in the first place, and that first place begins with the Chinese regime's 7 week long suppression of information from Dec 1 until Jan 23, which allowed the virus to spread beyond Wuhan in massive numbers
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
3. The Chinese authorities waited 7 weeks—yes 7 weeks—to institute a lockdown in Wuhan despite full knowledge of the virus' spread. According to Wuhan's mayor himself, *5 million* people had already left Wuhan by then pic.twitter.com/SKTPRR7pFX
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
4. Then there's the Chinese government's refusal to regulate wildlife markets—a major source of viruses. Despite the SARS outbreak, they subsequently *lifted* restrictions, and kept on easing restrictions until 2018. This Vox video is a chilling primer: https://t.co/pFK9MkN8jc
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
Don’t eat friggin’ bats … it’s gross.
5. Meanwhile, geopolitical competition continues, and now that its cases are declining, China is leveraging its stronger position. As it portrays itself as a global leader in fighting COVID-19, China launches disinformation campaigns blaming the US Army for introducing the virus
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
6. If we waited for a "better" time to raise these concerns, that could be 12 or 18 months from now, based on estimates of how long the virus could be with us. China won't wait; it will continue undermining Western democracies and trying to sow discord for its benefit
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
7. Call me old fashioned, but I believe the US is capable of ramping up efforts to fight the virus while *also* countering China's efforts to use our devastation at home to its own political and economic advantage
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
8. In short, responsibility and accountability matter in both the best of times and the worst. There's no reason we should suspend the demand for accountability, considering what's at stake and the human toll that this virus has already exactedhttps://t.co/7F0R6pa8tp pic.twitter.com/o61IUgcOGd
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
Whoa, holding China responsible? That sounds racist.
One thing about this article, which is well argued. Is your assumption that China should have recognised a potential outbreak before 26 December? Because it seems that was when they realised that this was a new thing?
— Mark Dunstan (@markgdunstan) March 19, 2020
thanks. they shouldn't have continued allowing people to go in and out of Wuhan until Jan 23, which is what allowed the virus to spread well beyond what anyone could have imagined
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
It’s a genocidal regime which has put the world in danger & poor countries lack the infrastructure to deal with the hell they have unleashed. They need to be held accountable.
— Sephora (@valkyrie786) March 19, 2020
This is such a GREAT article!! The way China is trying to hide the facts just shows how they are oppressing the people and keeping the people blind. If we (people not in China) start believing one of China’s lies we fall into the trap China set. #ChineseWuhanVirus
— ashley. (@aaashleyyyyy_) March 19, 2020
The nature of the regime is such that the initial reflex was to cover it up, punish whistle blowers, ignore it. Now after this window of time was squandered their authoritarian system facilitated a mammoth effort to mitigate it. That authoritarianism caused it in the first place.
— JaKob (@iwik8816) March 19, 2020
You must recognize that China is in a war with the rest of the world. They want to be the most powerful country and losing a few thousand of their people is nothing to them. They are attacking our dollar and our people. Now they threaten to stop providing important drugs.
— Louise ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Louise49153139) March 19, 2020
Joe Biden assures us that the Chinese Communist Party are good folks and that China is no competition for the United States.
Outstanding read! Accountability is important. Here we have a typical corrupt & incompetent socialist state with idiot central planning & thuggish tactics.
— Paul Morelli (@PaulOPinion) March 19, 2020
If somebody shoots you, when is it important to blame him?
— Take precautions against the China virus (@jtLOL) March 19, 2020
after he shoots you
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
that's now
— Take precautions against the China virus (@jtLOL) March 19, 2020
exactly
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) March 19, 2020
— MasterThief, WASH YOUR HANDS?? (@MasterThiefEsq) March 19, 2020
Maybe the media might take a hint: Just because you’re trying to push the narrative that President Trump fumbled the response to the coronavirus doesn’t mean you have to start repeating Chinese propaganda.
Related:
NBC News reporter warns that China, who 'helped' contain COVID19, is now facing a grave threat from America and the Western World https://t.co/lgRWYVXup5
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 19, 2020
