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Raging at China Over Coronavirus Won't Help - Scrutinising Our Own Governments Might
Raging at China Over Coronavirus Won't Help - Scrutinising Our Own Governments Might
The tenor of debate in the United States gives an indication of the stakes. The Fox
News commentator Tucker Carlson – a favourite of the president – has
been drawing on reports in the Australian tabloid the Daily Telegraph of a
supposed secret dossier linking the outbreak to the Wuhan lab. “We are
squabbling about lockdowns … that is the debate in this country,” said Carlson.
“That is not the debate in China, why? Because they have bigger plans. By the
time this pandemic has played out, China plans to rule the world.”
Even so, there is a good case for an inquiry. From the shameful cover-up of the
initial outbreak, such as the silencing of the heroic doctor Li Wenliang, to the
subsequent censorship, the disappearance of critics and sowing of
disinformation, there’s still a lot to learn. China has seen a litany of food and
agriculture scandals (amazingly, it is still not well understood why 16,000 pig
carcasses floated down the Huangpu river in 2013); its citizens certainly deserve
to know more about the role of intensified animal agriculture and environmental
destruction in propelling new pathogens into human population centres. Greater
understanding may help societies across the world to better rebuild economies
and improve public health and preparedness systems.
Instead of spurring learning or action, this type of aggressive diplomacy will only
lead to the further emboldening of hardline nationalist and protectionist
narratives in Beijing, along with the escalating sabre-rattling that keeps us as far
as ever from the cooperation required to handle the pandemic and its aftermath.
After the outbreak, China banned eating wildlife and stepped up efforts to disrupt
the illegal wildlife trade. It can go much further, and next year it will rightly be
under scrutiny when it hosts the UN Convention on Biological Diversity talks in
Kunming – this aims to reduce the destruction of ecosystems and biodiversity,
which helps pathogens to pass between animals and people. In many other
negotiations – such as the Paris climate agreement, and debt relief for the world’s
poorest – the sheer size of its economy means China plays a critical role.
And while many Chinese citizens were initially furious about the government
cover-up, there is also a widespread assumption in the country that “accusations
from western governments are in bad faith” – as the academic Chenchen
Zhang put it. This has only grown in recent weeks, especially since these same
“international actors were silent” about China’s plight in late January and early
February.
But in countries like the US, Australia and the UK, citizens have a choice. We can
scrutinise our governments and societies – for the glaring failures of the
pandemic response; the debasement of scientific inquiry and media freedom; the
politicisation of intelligence; attacks on the “dual loyalties” of ethnic Chinese – or
we can fall into line, direct our ire at the foreign enemy, and jettison the
possibility of progress into the grinding gears of a great power conflict.