China may be trying to fix its "image" with the naive and uninformed. We in the West need to really understand the Chinese and their agenda. Unless we do, we will all become beholden to them.
This Virus is a Chinese creation, maybe literally! It started there through their modes of eating all sorts of foods or perhaps manufactured in the lab there. We will find the truth about this in due time.
The Chinese people here in Canada and in the rest of the world are an extension of the Chinese government, its communist party. Often, I hear words, from Chinese folks, that in China I did not do something this way so why should I do it here.
China expects all its "daughters" to be dutiful daughters and I see it everywhere that Chinese women look for Canadian men to marry and indoctrinate them into sympathy towards China and what it wants. All this, and more, tells me that China has a plan to "educate" the world to be Chinese, like it is doing to the Uyghurs.
If we want to maintain our developed and western ways of life, we must become aware of the Chinese culture and understand its "code" so we can better deal with them.
I recommend reading a book on culture codes by Raphael Clotaire.
16
@WEL
"Maintain our developed and Western ways of life"?
You mean like not having healthcare for everyone in the U.S.? You mean like making people go into debt to pay their medical bills? You mean like not having enough testing kits to go around? You mean like not being prepared -- in fact, being utterly unprepared -- for this pandemic, even though China gave us 6 WEEKS of lead time?
You mean like that way of life?
15
I have no sympathy for the Chinese in this instance. The wet wildlife markets were the source of the outbreak, the CCP intentionally lied to the global public about the severity of the disease, and the WHO report is essentially a love letter to authoritarianism and Xi’s personality cult.
It’s not racist to distance oneself from Chinese nationals during this period, for they are essentially extensions of the party and its misinformation apparatuses. It’s not racist to criticize the Chinese when their folk remedies have foisted this disease onto the world stage. And it’s certainly not racist for the US to reconsider our society’s relationship with this repressive, autocratic regime.
The CCP seems to be adeptly playing liberals concerns with racism and representation to shield itself from actual critique.
65
@Steve read this article from Nature.com, genome studies find the virus may not originate from Wuhan: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00548-w
9
The concern isn’t about where the virus itself originated but about the point of animal-to-human transmission. It’s disingenuous to claim the two are the same. To quote one of the researchers who’s quoted in the article:
“If pangolins are the source of the virus, and they came from another country, why haven’t there been reports of people being infected in that location?”
Again, the central concern is the point of transmission. Likewise, I would be hesitant to trust any research originating in China due to the country’s censorship of scholarship and its scholars’ reputation for intellectual copyright infringement and plagiarism, both of which are well documented. If you have any doubts that the CCP is sticking its fingers into the research related to the disease, I implore you to read the WHO report and consider how blatantly it flatters Xi.
11
@Steve
So if a French person finds Trump abhorrent, it's ok if that French person distances oneself from all Americans (since we are extensions of our government)?
You are right that the wildlife markets are a problem, but like most governments, the Chinese government did some things right and some things wrong in its response. Reminds me a lot of how the U.S. government is responding right now.
13
The virus and its spread is China's fault. That's plain and simple. The government knows that live wild animal markets are responsible for species jumping viruses, it covered up the outbreak and then would not allow external medical personnel in to assess the situation.
They should be sanctioned, both as an incentive to shut down all aspects of the markets and as punishment
59
@Midwest, plus the fact that the Chinese consider exotic animal parts of almost every species as sexual stimulants, attractants, medicinal remedies, food, and God knows what. And to the best of my knowledge, none of it is true or has any basis in fact, except maybe the food. And that’s a stretch.
4
China has given the world the gift that keeps on giving and is taking away and destroying.
ALL the deadly virus pandemics (with the exceptions of the MERS and Ebola pandemics) which have plagued the world, including the current version, SARS and all those going as far back as the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed more people than who died during WWI, have all originated from China.
China manages its economy on the cheap as the sources are China’s unregulated livestock industry which is a cesspool of dangerous viruses and bacteria. The science of the transfer of virus from animals to humans has been proved. There will be more pandemics originating from China as long as China’s livestock industry is unregulated.
If the coronavirus reaches Africa or large developing countries in south Asia (India, Pakistan, etc.) or in the west Pacific (Indonesia, Philippines, etc.) then it can spread to be a global disaster. This is because these countries do not have the infrastructure to deal with or control coronavirus.
What will China do to compensate the civilized world for the mismanagement and abuses of its economy and society, its unregulated reckless industries and its immeasurable vast theft of intellectual property that have taken so much away from the West?
30
I can accurately be called a 'never-Trump'er.
However, in the case of China, I do agree with some of his policies including a tough trade policy. In addition, I do think we should bar Chinese visitors for the next several months until they completely contain this virus and are free of new infections for several weeks. I would also applaud stern measures to limit IP theft from our companies, our universities and national labs. Including a 100% ban on Chinese students and researchers in STEM fields until the Chinese agree to tough anti-piracy laws enforceable by US companies in the US and in China.
The Chinese mistake our openness for weakness. Time to show a iron fist under the velvet glove.
59
@Rudran Many of the recently infected individuals were infected while they were in Iran, Italy and European countries. There are now overseas travellers returning to China ( some are Chinese, others not) that brought back the infection. That is the reason for the Quarantine.
Rightly or wrongly, CCP imposed dragonian measures to contain the virus, and to make sure that people follow the rules. At least in China, the Covid-19 virus appears to be under control. Europe and the United States did not take any action while the virus spread in China. Had their governments been more vigilant in taking precaution, rather than taking pot-shots at the Chinese government for not taking actions early on,and letting those who are taking care of people who are quarantine to move around the military base with no safety gears in place for days, and to go back outside without first getting disinfected, the spread of the infection would have been much more limited in scope.
22
@Rudran Whatever. In the next several months, it would behoove the Chinese to ban folks from the US. With our dont test, dont tell, just pray approach, we can expect infection rates like nobody's business.
15
@Rudran Should we bar Italian, French, German,,,,etc?
2
People that think China's response has been lousy will be in for a rude awakening.
Give it another month in the U.S.
7
The stupidity of the government of China is in not shutting down the trade and consumption of wildlife, has SARS not taught u this already? As China assumes power in this world, be the source of inspiration, innovation, smarts and hard work and not the source of illness and bad karma
5
Sinophobia is rampant why not Copid-19 flowed out of that fine city Wuhan, my first China ‘love-affair.
What is interesting is how this little organism spreads so fast; very few people ever passed thru the ‘Market’ source.
Little by little it is being realized no country is prepared for this virus – and it was seventeen years from the last such encounter. China now is finally doing as well a can be expected in containment, but small enterprises without ‘family sources’ are doomed – my favorite dumpling shop locked up forever.
And Xi’s One Belt-One Road ground perhaps to a permanent halt.
Not a time for assigning blame.
Posturing. They had an excellent opportunity to demonstrate commitment to the world with SARS.
Wet markets are still.........open...for pandemics.
7
Stop eating weird animals and use refrigerators to store normal meat.
6
Where is the protective N-95 mask for President Xi Jinping (and those around him) in this photograph? Surely China makes these types of masks.
Looks like they're all just wearing regular surgical masks.
Agreed, let's stop blaming China - but can we talk about "its image", please? This photo shows NO ONE, including the President, WEARING GLOVES -- only masks! Hello, what's wrong with this picture? The virus is spread through touching, not through airborne alone! And this staged photo was released by their official news agency, Xinhua? Should have shown more protection than just masks and lab coats!
2
Love the picture of President Xi Jinping in a lab. The equivalent here would be "President" Trump with a large wooden spoon and a large cauldron.
1
Should Twitter ban those Chinese diplomats' account until everyone else in China can get one?
7
The best method to solve a problem in US, blame China or Russia!
9
@QBY
Disappeared for a while after the Berlin Wall went down, then China enters the W.T.O. and becomes a world power and largest economy by some accounts, and Putin decides to return Russia to the world stage.
Cold War paranoia worked so well before no surprise its return.
Functions as an excuse for many for their own failings.
Live in peace dangerious?
1
You don't deserve sympathy China, you deserve unprecedented amounts of scorn and condemnation. Your governmental culture of lies, deceit, denial and oppression is the reason this outbreak was not contained in the first place. The whole world knows the story of Dr. Li Wenliang now, and there ain't no puttin' that one back in the box.
Your levels of pollution are surreal, your cities are unhealthy and your people appear largely uneducated about the dangers of consuming certain animals (bats alone carry a huge number of known pathogens).
You are responsible for roughly 50% of the annual amount of plastic waste that goes in our oceans and 33% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. SARS, influenza and now COVID-19 are some of your more notable exports.
Just as Chernobyl was the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union, I hope this appalling debacle is the beginning of the end for your mendacious, oppressive, totalitarian regime. China, you are just plain bad for the planet.
20
They deserve the shame and loss of face. This was totally avoidable and the 2nd time China experienced animal to human trasnmission. So many animals are threatened endangered because of Chinese irrational stone age beliefs and an insatiable appetite. And yes, I'm of Chinese descent.
22
Which part should we find positive-disease, pollution, slave labor, greed, wild life trading, lying government?! I wish we could not go business with them and would not bother me if the entire place fell into the ocean.
17
China, you have earned your bad rep for your denial of responsibility and culpability. Your ingrown government is the problem.
16
It was not China's Coronavirus outbreak that 'damaged its image,' it was our mean-spirited coverage of it. After all, EVERY public health specialist who visited the country and observed the measures it took praised it fulsomely.
But our meanness may come back to haunt us. It seems that virus-hunting has improved greatly since we allowed H1N1 to kill 300,000 people in 2009-2010. In fact, we're even revising our own timeline of that outbreak: it actually showed up months before we initially thought.
Ditto COVID-19.
It seems that COVID-19 made its first appearance last September in a developed country with a weak public health system.
Which developed country? Well, here's a clue: its media led the attack on China's handling of the outbreak.
19
China's traditional practice of slaughtering mass numbers of wildlife, many of which are on the brink of extinction, has been immoral and inhumane all on its own. And now, these greedy and nefarious practices, largely in the name of "traditional medicine," i.e., snake oil, have resulted in a global public health and economic emergency.
China -- and China alone -- once again has unleashed a novel virus, this time causing a pandemic. No amount of preening and pluming, subterfuge and spin will erase these facts.
20
In the case of SARS and now COVID-19,,, and also the likely source of two of the EBOLA epidemics,,,,
Bush meat. The killing of wild animals, exotic animals, and then taking those animals into market and selling them,, or into the kitchen to eat. 4 major epidemics ,, all in the last 20 years,, and all linked to bush meat.
Hmmm.. Ya think maybe that practice should be stopped?
We kill wild animals for trophy horns we hang on the wall,,, powdered gall bladders and horns to cure limp 'ahem' appendages, and wild cats to eat. I think maybe we should stop.
18
Shocker. Another world leader refuses to take accountability for the very problems its helped create.
Oh, and Obama's responsible for the Corona virus.
The world's most immature people run the world. I truly can't remember the last time I saw an ounce of real leadership on this planet. Its been far too long.
8
The greedy capitalist will try to deflect the blame from China so that he and his cronies can continue to chant the mantra of free trade. They were willing to overlook the despicable mistreatment of the Uighurs; now they are willing to overlook the hundreds of thousands of cases of Corona virus that were transmitted due to the CCP coverup.
9
@Bob Name calling and the use of buzz words, "greedy,, cronies, coverup" Blame game.
Bob,? we did it Bob, you and me. WE did it Bob, not 'they did it'. Make it better with constructive 'we should do,, we should discuss'. I don't see it a stitch different, better, or even as good on this side of the ocean.
We need more test kits,, millions more,, and yes, those test kits should have been an easy thing to fore see.8.3 billion allocated,,, it shoulda been done a month ago,,, but 'shrug' who reads the papers? (I do.)
5
The last authoritative pronouncements from China were published on February 24 in official Chinese media. China’s president for life Xi Jinping told officials at a Communist Party meeting February 23rd. that the coronavirus epidemic was “a crisis and a big test” for the country.
I visited the Chinese media’s official website (link below) which carried a report on the speech, and translated the text from Chinese into English. Xi used such words as “grim,” “complex’” “ordeal,” “critical,” “crushed.” And then there is “bite the bullet."
Anyone who has studied communist party political phraseology and vocabulary will know that such language is meant to communicate a dire situation inside the country, far more serious than that which Chinese media and spokesman are portraying publicly. And now that China has shifted rhetorical gears, I'd submit that the situation in the country is WORSE than it was two weeks ago.
http://m.news.cctv.com/2020/02/23/ARTIN7AmI36I8DUwHBV5OiVa200223.shtml
6
They couldn't hide the epidemic in Wunan in January but they are now hiding a far more serious problem across all of China while the whole world watches?
1
So ironically that US people naturally suspect China may under report its infections and deaths. As a foreigner living in the US for nearly 6 years, at this brink of COVID-19 breakout in the US, my suspicion on CDC's report on its incidence and preventive actions also grow. Look at this real-time numbers: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
How can one believe, US only has 267 infections but already 14 deaths? If so, the death rate > 5%.
An Harvard scientist estimates 20-60% of the global adult population will ultimately be infected by this virus: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/03/hundreds-of-u-s-coronavirus-cases-may-have-slipped-through-screenings/
So if given the lower end of WHO official estimate of death rate, say 1%, this would mean > 10-30 million death. Are we near the end of world?
Luckily this is not true. Strict actions have been taken in China which would remove 1.4 billion people from the above estimate. The facts: China keep track of its vast population for travel history and screen for any possible infection when many cities are now resuming work. Wuhan has swept its communities and households in February to check for untreated sick people, and filled more than 10 newly built hospitals in Wuhan. Now the growth rate declines steadily there.
Also read this article from Nature.com, genome studies find the virus may not originate from Wuhan: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00548-w
Do not believe rumors but compare notes!
7
The article does not say the virus didn’t originate from Wuhan; it says the DNA of the virus in pangolins does not match to the necessary degree to the DNA of the virus in humans. Therefore it’s unlikely that the virus was transmitted to humans by the pangolins at the market in Wuhan.
1
Wow! you mean in an autocratic, Communist state it’s easier to control people and their behavior? Such insight!
5
China seems in a constant battle against itself, and against the world..
Ejecting journalists who write articles they don't like is childish..And in the case of this global pandemic, the rest of the world no longer finds China to be a credible partner..
..--China, rather than learn from its mistakes..chooses to make the same mistakes over & over..
-- Hardly what you'd call a world leader.
8
Probably foreign journalists shall be standing in China’s standing committee, not peanut gallery.
3
The racism runs so deep. Please stop it with "exotic" animals. We stopped calling people "exotic" and animals deserve the same respect. Bats, civets and pangolins are not "exotic", they are just animals. I get that a McDonald's diet makes just about anything "exotic" but using the term reinforces otherness. Bats and civets are not even endangered.
3
Korea has a clearer sky as the factories in Wuhan partially shut down. Korea has a shortage of masks as China imported them without limits. Chinese cannot trust the quality of masks Made in China. Korea-China border has been open since the outbreak. As Chinese "local" governments now quarantine Koreans for two weeks, many flights are cancelled. Many illegal Chinese in Korea call for a quick return to China.
It is too early to reassess the efficacy of Chinese governmental system. It has been arrogant, unilateral, secretive and oppressing like in the past. It cannot be efficient against worldwide disease. After Covid-19 is gone in a couple of months, I hope, WHO and other major populous countries should revisit the current transnational defense system in case an outbreak happens again. All nations should be open, realistic and cooperative. National images and political propaganda should be put behind for the safety of the human beings.
2
Guys I agree with you that governments need transparency and cooperation, but some facts you mentioned is kind of ridiculous for me. Well first you really need some common sense about geography...how can Wuhan's factories influence Korea, considering such a long distance? And the only reasons that Korea masks sold to China in the early stage of outbreak are the shortage of stock and production lines shut down for Chinese New Year. When you call for cooperation, please don't quote outdated misinformation and have bias like this...
1
When are the Chinese going to permanently close the live animal markets. They seem to be an ongoing problem.
8
Please. It would be naive and more than a bit disingenuous to suggest that in the current environment an event like the emergence of the coronavirus would not be eagerly seized upon by the US to advance its geopolitical interests with regards to its "existential systems competition" with China.
It's too good an opportunity to ignore. Up until the virus the US hearts and minds efforts to hobble China had been largely ineffective and more than a bit embarrassing; a litany of flop sweat infused public diplomacy and US media abetted failures; efforts to critically hobble China's new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) ended in complete failure -76 countries joined the AIIB. A related campaign targeting China's Belt and Road iniative - more dire warnings more reams of negative press - failed to control the narrative outside the US. Most recently US efforts to derail China's Huawei and its world leading 5G technology at unbeatable prices. Another huge hearts and minds campaign another US PR failure. Even Germany and the refused to ban Huawei's technology with the former head of the UK's NSA equivalent; the GCHQ describing US claims regarding Huawei as "nonsense". Ouch!
The coronavirus is just the latest fodder for America's propaganda war on China and an eager US media with the NYT in the lead - is in it up to its neck.
10
Thank you, PRC, for reminding us what your priorities are.
5
I am so fearful that the reason we are not testing adequately in the US yet is because our government does not want us to know the truth about the numbers of infections. I hope I'm wrong.
3
Great article. The only good thing I can see that could come out of this tragedy is that CCP is put into the dustbin of history. The virus is exposing and fully exposing some of the fundamental weaknesses of today's China related to corruption, a lack of transparency and accountability. The population has put up to a large degree with these factors in exchange for economic growth. Now that the economy will tank hopefully the CCP will see the reckoning they deserve
2
Only one thing is certain - the US will do all it can to vilify and demonize China. The US and its media do one thing well, they emphasize any problem or misstep by any nation that is not a vassal state, negatively caricature such states, while ignoring the problems and missteps at home and painting a picture of the US as being above it all and qualified to prosecute, judge and condemn other nations. This is the greatest danger that the US and its "democracy" and "free press" present to the world, utter hypocracy and an agenda and propaganda system that depends on our mainstream media and the fairly tale propaganda about the US.
10
@Daniel Yakoubian What you are describing the US will do is what China is currently doing, and relentlessly so, and is what it has done in the past. Do not underestimate the power of collective and nationalist cultures like those in China, supported by ruthless censorship and ubiquitous propaganda, to project its own faults onto the outside group in order to sustain stability and cohesiveness of the inside.
When you say the US, you artificially impose a unity on this country, which ignores its currently fractured state. And although China is far from unified ideologically, it is much moreso than the US.
If China has indeed caused this virus by ignoring warnings it should have learned from SARs and past cover-ups, it indeed deserves to vilified and shamed.
9
Consider the Coronavirus a warning shot across the bow of the world. SARS and MERS each originated in China. Now, this. That's three strikes, and we should be out, but we're apparently fouling this one off without calamitous death rates. China MUST get its dietary practices in line with modernity, and open up its society so that a free press and free exchange of ideas can bring the accountability it so often seems to lack.
7
@Snowball
MERS came from the Middle East. H1N1 came from North America. Ebola from Africa.
9
Hopefully the business world "wakes up" and finally realizes when you put all your eggs in one basket, you're at risk of ending up with scrambled eggs. No business stores all their critical data on one server in one location, why should the great minds of business think making China the point of origin for the majority of manufactured goods in the world any less susceptible to a critical incident such as this? Given China's penchant for forcing it's will on other nations and the diverse ethnic groups that live within its borders I think China is the deserving recipient of this karma. No population deserves to suffer but this pandemic is a wake up call to the world both from a business perspective, a health perspective and a governance perspective.
7
“Now that the rate of new infections and deaths in China has slowed...”
No! It has APPARENTLY slowed. This is China, where the MD who first flagged the problem was censured. Even if they are lying, we do not know the testing rate. Newly reported cases will decline if the Chinese are exporting so many test kits that they’re testing fewer people at home.
1
Sorry man. I've been racially abused twice in a month for no other crime then heading home from work because I look Chinese. I'm not born there I never lived there. The anti Chinese sentiments displayed in recent times are not helpful, they detract rather than focus minds on the problems at home. The virus does not have an ideology or a racial identity
10
It strikes me that China is providing the roadmap for Trump to deflect blame and image damage.
3
Sure, let's stop blaming China for its cruel, fetishistic appetite for the flesh of exotic wild animals.
While we're at it, maybe we should also stop blaming China for the declines of elephant and rhino populations in Africa.
7
Don't kid yourself, China's government is more open about the coronavirus than our government. Under Trump's incompetence we have tested no one, for all practical purposes. So we could have tens of thousands of people in plain sight, infecting tens of thousands.
Mike Pence is having a press conference as I write this and he is deflecting, dodging and stammering his way through announcing...nothing. Trump and Pence are "taking all measures possible" which means they have no plan at all. They have no tests but "because of Trump's leadership, the risk to the public is low."
Pence can say over and over "we are ready" and every rational person knows that they are adrift.
15
This could describe Trump's America except China actually has competent leadership.
6
China needs to permanently shut down all those open air animal markets. The wholesale unregulated slaughter and consumption of nearly every type of wild animal in existence, along with how they are caged and housed on top of each other was a biological time bomb just waiting to go off.
4
China asks for sympathy and attacks critics of the administration.
Great strategy! Sounds like someone Americans know!!
3
One of the things that bothers me about China is when it comes to sable-rattling and showing force, like in the South China Sea, they‘re all power this and power that, but when these viruses pop up, all one hears is how they‘re a developing nation! Poor little China, the developing nation.
They’re developing so much that human rights are thrown out the window! Not only their Muslim community has to deal with this, but their professional community as well! The very same medical doctor who called in the alarm on Corona was ridiculed, reprimanded and silenced by the Chinese Government!—Now he’s dead, killed by the very same virus he tried to warn people against!
I’m sorry, but that leaves a very sour taste in my mouth and there should be severe consequences due to that! Are we of the free world to allow this kind of awful behavior from the world’s second largest economy? I sure hope not, because it’s inexcusable!
7
It is beyond credibility that this epidemic was caused by a few cases of this disease brought about by eating some contaminated food or contacting some contaminated animal. If people were to look at this objectively, the real virulence of this disease and its ability to spread so easily points to a man made virus which escaped from a germ warfare lab.
The Chinese owe the world an apology, and admit their foolish mistakes.
1
A pulmonologist friend of mine told me that the reason so many Chinese have died from coronavirus is that their lungs have been compromised by decades of air pollution throughout the country.
We here in the US do NOT have such a problem. We also have far better sanitation and hygiene and far more advanced and rigorously enforced medical protocols.
Ergo, we should most certainly not expect a mortality rate anywhere close to that of China.
4
I understand that most people have a lot of fear (as do I), but I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face, we need to stop blaming China. What good does it do? It just adds unnecessary hatred and racism. Are there things that the Chinese government could do better? Yes, but at least they’re handling the outbreak with iron clad testings, quarantines and regulations (this is where communism is helpful—controlling populations). America, for being so developed, can’t test many patients because the CDC is being so weird—and also b/c there is a lack of testing kits though the govt has known for a few months about the outbreak. Talk about an underwhelming government response. Also, viruses can start anywhere humans are. . . America is just more privileged with its infrastructure. Please let’s focus on what we can do.
92
@Christine "Control" is what caused the problem in the first place. The government controlled the information, and they chose to pretend it didn't happen, with disastrous results for innocent, regular citizens of China and elsewhere.
The administration here is trying to do the same thing with information - control it in order to conceal their gross incompetence and stunning indifference to expertise - which may in part explain why the CDC is being so "weird."
19
@Christine We can and will continue to blame the communist government. It's called learning from history and I know china loves to censor and remove history (cilutral revolution, tiananmen) Their citizens already do and are being deleted from social media. They cared more about bashing HK protests and defending Uyghur genocide than cracking down on decades old scientist warnings about recurrence of coronaviruses. I'll say this until I'm blue in the face: Chinese people's biggest enemy is the CCP.
They want credit for "lifting millioms out of poverty", who starved millioms of them in the first place? Who are the ones enforcing and lifting bans on wet markets despite scientist warnings? CCP. I'm saying this as an ethnic Chinese whosenfamilt fled their horrific rule, never forgive and never forget.
17
@Christine
We know China was the source of the viral outbreak, and this is not the first time, nor will it be the last.
SARS, Avian Flu, Swine flu and now covid-19 all originated from China.
If you want to broaden the lens even farther, the bubonic plague, or Black Death of the 1300s was also traced back to Guangzhou.
The common factor for all these outbreaks was animal-human transfer, which is greatly facilitated by the Chinese propensity for wild animal meat. Things haven't changed there for centuries, and this latest outbreak probably won't do it either.
So instead of decrying racism, if China and their apologists truly don't want to be blamed for being the most likely source of human pandemics, they should stop their barbaric practice of killing exotic and endangered animals for nonexistent medical reasons or even worse, vanity.
Until that time, it won't be a question of if, but when the next pandemic will start in China.
42
I keep hearing the rhetoric of 'if the Chinese numbers are to be believed,' despite no refutation from the WHO or CDC whatsoever.
Here's the thing: 2% death rate. If you believe this, then you also believe China's numbers. If you don't, then it seems like the US is in for a grand old time, wouldn't you say? You can't have it both ways, people.
8
@Eleanor
Please do NOT compare the US and China in any way, shape or form. The US is an advanced industrialized and high-tech society. China is agrarian, backward, and at best can be called underdeveloped.
2
@David H
An illogism which won't work in this case. The CDC is completely working off of China's numbers. You can believe what you want to believe, but the virus doesn't care.
3
The problem with China's government is that they care more about their own image than the problems it is their job to fix. Of course, better than Trump who cares not at all about the problems and only about his image.
8
"Now that the rate of new infections and deaths in China has slowed..."
Really? How do we know this is true?
I don't believe ANYTHING the CCP says.
13
@barcelona41
The decreased rate of infections outside of Wuhan is beginning to lead to talks of allowing Chinese people to return to work normally but with caution and clean habits. When the government begins to allow this, what other explanation could there be except for a slowdown in the spread?
Extreme social distancing between people has been an effective measure at combating the spread of the virus. I would be more worried about America, which has not yet told it's citizens to wear face masks and avoid close contact zones.
4
The Chinese government, predicated on the suppression of free speech deemed harmful to the Party, tried as long as they could to downplay the reality and severity of COVID-19. In doing so they enabled the rapid onset of a pandemic and are partially responsible for thousands of deaths related to the disease. The above statement isn’t racist and it isn’t an opinion, it’s factual. Any loss of goodwill the Chinese government experiences domestically or abroad is both well-deserved and long overdue.
5
I hope that every company that has lost money and stock value in the last few weeks finally understands what China is up to and how dangerous it is for the rest of the world. Maybe companies like Apple should re-think their supply chain. I've been in China, not only is there a market for endangered species, the market there not only exists, it thrives. Children have been poisoned by baby formula, in the US, people have had their homes filled with toxins from sheet rock. Meanwhile around the world, ports and railways are being built by China, only to be given back when the a third world country like Sri Lanka can't afford to pay back the loans. Huawei is not the only company that steals intellectual property, but it is one of the biggest. While SARS and MERS did not turn out to be a pandemic, last year more than a quarter of the world's pigs had to be culled, because of swine fever, brought to us by China. China continues to be a major polluter and contributes an enormous amount to global warming. They've stopped taking our garbage and that is a good thing, because maybe we will find sustainable solutions. They are buying up vast amounts of properties off shore driving up prices. The promote birth tourism to get citizenship.They are building islands and depleting world fisheries, with enormous trawlers that take vast quantities of other species as well. Maybe for Corona Virus, we should send THEM the bill!
12
Could part of that push back be censorship of the data? Case report numbers have been suspiciously low for over a week.
1
@MT The Chinese had tens of thousands of cases and they couldn't hide it. They can't claim they are on top of it now and still have a spreading epidemic without the world finding out the truth.
As much as it goes against the narrative, the Chinese government after some initial missteps has dealt with this situation effectively.
1
It’s becoming almost an unspeakable shame that global leaders seem compelled to try to side-step transparency in the oh-so-transparent world we live in today. It suggests to me that almost all forms of governance are failing to elevate its people, preferring the easier historical politic of suppression. The breaking point on a global scale is unthinkable, yet we still seem to accept governance that taunts it like the devil.
1
The Chinese are worried about their image? The first thing they can do is ban the raising, trading, and eating of all wild animals with NO exceptions. Then they can divert sufficient money from their military build up to have a modern, functional medical system for China's citizens. The Chinese evidently didn't learn much from the SARS epidemic in 2002. They got the world into this mess and now need to show us they're serious about making amends.
8
@trucklt
Probably we need to do that ourselves. Ban hunting anyone?
3
Has there ever been a deer or elk pandemic? It alludes me.
Unless China significantly changes things, this is going to become an even more frequent problem. It’s just plain to see, without racism. The way their society and government operates, it’s literally a kitchen for cooking up new epidemics.
8
Grading on a curve, looks like China merits an F in health safety for its unregulated animal markets, but an A for addressing the coronavirus once the outbreak was detected (ok, an A- because it took the death of a doctor who warned about it in Wuhan, but on the other hand they stood up a brand new hospital in 10 days and Xi was ubiquitously in view leading their defence).
In contrast the US had plenty of advance notice given that we could observe China, and still we stumble. Not to mention Trump’s dismantling of our preventive health architecture. So we’re the laughing stock in this case, worthy of an F.
4
The world should hold China financially responsible for unleashing an entirely unnecessary pandemic on the world. It's not like they were unaware that their animal industry practices start pandemics.
8
As long as China has Canadian hostages locked up in reprisal for Canada honoring a US warrant on the Huawei CFO they will get no sympathy from me. The Huawei CFO is living in her mansion in Vancouver and challenging the warrant in court, the Canadian hostages are locked up in a dreadful prison.
7
Here is a crazy thought - should rest of the world send the bill to China for causing Coronavirus damages? It may not be so crazy after all. It sends the message to countries which intentionally suppress or delay timely information sharing to avoid unnecessary or more than usual flare ups. Money certainly can make them talk.
5
The photo is obviously supposed to comfort the Chinese that Xi is doing what he can, but it is very Kim Jung Unesque - the great leader instructing the nations scientists on how to stop the corona virus. It's almost like the great leaders Trump and Pence when they talk over Anthony Fauci and other scientists!
And, China deserves sympathy but also criticism for its failure to stop the trade in wildlife and general conditions in its public markets that has been the source of three global viral outbreaks by my count.
4
In myriad ways China represents a huge threat to the world. Public health crises, military-based threats of encroachment, disregard for human rights... The world needs to wake up and see this country for the primitive steamroller that it is.
7
For years, have commented/suggested/ranted that the US completely deregulate its non-invasive clinical diagnostic technology industry...
For clarity, non-invasive means no ionizing radiation or elemental tracers, and no more tissue/fluid intrusion/extraction than for currently-approved testing...
It's been wasted – with the notable exception of baseline sequencing technology – on the entrenched and sclerotic diagnostic health care ecosystem in this country...
Perhaps China could take the initiative, along this line...
Had done the same (commented etc…) – regarding energy – for small modular reactors…
And for about as long…
About 18 months ago, panic set in on that one – because we finally woke to the fact that the Russians and Chinese were about to leave us in the dust…
And so, we may just come out OK – or even on top – in that area…
Sooo – Big Guy and #2…
Did the shot across the bow re our pathetic relative shortfall in testing capability get your attention – or do they have to sink the whole fleet in the harbor???
2
To all the people in the US criticising the Chinese government, you’ve got Trump and Pence in charge during a potential pandemic! Thoughts and prayers people, thoughts and prayers.
8
I think the photo says it all: President Xi Jinping standing in probably the most sanitized room in China, lecturing but not listening to the obsequious staff. And they are wearing masks but no gloves...
If Trump goes to the CDC center, a trip now up for debate as the CDC workers digest the "fact" that Trump's visit had been previously cancelled due to an infected worker (news to them), I expect a similar photo event.
Except Trump won't be wearing a mask. How can he lecture us if the mask garbles his voice. Instead the dumbest guy in the room, the 'leastest' scientist present, will be nodding his head while he fantasizes about his next fish burger. Then he will come up with another confidence building doozy; so you've tested the flu vaccine on this virus? You sure? Cause my gut is telling me maybe you haven't tested hard enough.
Silence is golden.
4
what country wouldn't impose quarantines on people flying in from outbreak zones and countries?
plus EU and USA don't even monitor nor enforce self-quarantines of people returning from outbreak countries.
infected people are flying all over the place. what foolish country would keep that going? Stop travel, bailout the airlines, minimize intermingling of people.
I don't see the federal or state governments telling schools or uni's to skip spring break. Just teach through it, stop the travel intermingling. Now everyone will come and go, infection spread and schools everywhere will be canceled even sooner.
No common sense. Why would another country let a foolish one fly in and infect everyone? China won't be having a Wave 2 of this. Rest of the world might have 2, 3, or 4 over the next 48 months of nonsense.
3
I am truly amazed by those readers who know very little what has since happened in China regarding the outbreak, yet completely disregard the fat that the US is not doing any better against the virus. Just look at the breaking news Friday afternoon: New York City is pleading for more testing kits from CDC.
11
@LBob - So, what you’re saying is, they were warned about needing a traffic light and decided to ignore it and now they’re reacting very well after someone got run over at the intersection.
Their lax way of handling animals causes these pandemics and we’re supposed to react calm after they just blew it off and didn’t change anything? We’re supposed to love the way they react to this and not question their actions leading up to it? Don’t think so.
1
Amusingly, trump is afraid to visit the CDC here in this country.
2
Gee. If an asteroid the size of a city ever hit the planet humans are done for. We can't even handle a virus.
1
The problem is that Xi is a proven liar.
No one can ever trust anything he says about anything ever again.
Sure, maybe he's telling the truth now. But maybe he isn't. We'll never know. Neither will big business.
Cheap labor ain't so cheap if it shuts an entire planet. In fact, the cost of China's labor turns out to be exorbitant. Just ask Apple.
4
We expect authoritarian China to invent and disseminate propaganda and deflection to preserve their corrupt regime.
Guess which authoritarian American propagandist is also blaming others for the American coronavirus ?
Donald Trump - the guy who tried to kill the ACA, the guy who fired the entire White House pandemic experts and staff in 2018..... the guy who said a vaccine is right around the corner in his Presidential lab..... the guy who put Pastor Pence in charge of the coronavirus response in spite of his epic healthcare management failures as governor of Indiana.
NOTE to American citizens: we have a massive failure of Presidential and Vice Presidential leadership.
6
I really don't care if China's image, or Trump's image, are being damaged by facts highlighting their lousy response to this virus.
If this thing started in the United States, do you think we would have done any better with Trump as our president?
5
@Victoria It's a very important point that the virus did NOT start here. Yes, the response is incredibly important, but so is the CAUSE or ORIGIN of the disease, which was preventable and occurred in China. It should not be a fact dismissed as irrelevant.
Also, it's true that the United States response has been by far the worst of all advanced countries. But this doesn't take away from the importance of tracing the cause.
2
@BP - I disagree on the U.S. response. I live in Germany and see zero difference to the American reaction. All I hear locally and nationally, is we can expect more cases and all we can do is our best to protect ourselves but since we don’t live in a bubble, we just have to take it as it comes and hope a vaccine is developed soon. That’s all America can do too. Blaming Trump for everything is a fools game for political posturing which could backfire.
2
Meanwhile trump tours medical clinics while unveiling his new slogan “keep America great.” The ultimate multitasker.
You'll never see a picture of Trump like this one of Xi. He's wearing his 'Keep America Great' cap inside at the CDC right now. Campaigning on our dime in the middle of a health crisis. What a guy.
3
China needs to permanently ban live animal markets and stop the wildlife trade. SARS was a warning that China didn’t heed. I hope, for all of our sakes, that they learn their lesson this time.
15
The CCP has proved again it is not to be trusted with all our most important supply chains. Medicine manufacturing and other strategic products need to made in countries that have free speech and press and do not attack us by cyber month after month and who do not pose a strategic risk in the long term. Its time to wake up.
12
Beijing has relied on totalitarian measures for the sake of their public image.
It’s time to reconsider to distributing the factories and supply chains that power are existence. We can not rely on a totalitarian regime that wants all the modernity without free flow ideas that come with it.
9
Xi does not seem to have much competition in the "how a leader deals with an epidemic/pandemic" category. So he looks no worse than most others, especially ours.
The other day Mr Trump was pounding his metaphorical fist and exclaiming that "China must let us in" to help and to study. Then I saw that Harvard scientists were already on their way to China. As with everything else, Mr Tump simply speaks from his own shallow knowledge and awareness base without bothering to assure that he has reliable information.
6
@Beth There is more nuance to the situation than this. I'm not Trump supporter, especially with his handling of this virus. With that said, Harvard scientists were only let in to China after all the less than flattering details have been covered up. For weeks, China prevaricated about letting anyone in, during the early days of the virus' explosive spread in Wuhan. The timing is not irrelevant.
I keep coming back to the fact that, in the early days of the discovery that an extremely communicable virus had been unleashed in his country, President Xi took no steps to curtail travel in and out of the country. Such an action could have saved an untold number of lives across the globe. It demonstrates how treacherous government cover-ups can be to innocent people.
3
China wants to be a leader of the world, the problem as the Coronavirus debacle has shown, much of its management, healthcare and support systems are still 3rd world. It would be foolish after this mess to continue to rely on China as a manufacturing center and parts supplier.
It is going to take them some time to recover, in part because they won't allow accurate data to be reported, so they don't really know what is happening. That is going to delay the restarting of their factories, which will effect our economy.
Say good bye to your Christmas goodies for this year, normally Chinese factories would be in fully swing right about now. That is obviously not happening.
5
What will this societal and economic stress do to the rigid control of Xi or the Party due to the lack of confidence in them by The People?
They are not known for subtle reactions to a loss of control.
1
I've lived in China two times. Sewerage down into canals. No 21st Century sanitation. Live critters in markets. PERFECT breeding group for SARS 2!
10
People here naturally suspect China may under report its infections and deaths. At this brink of COVID-19 breakout in the US, my suspicion on CDC's report on its incidence and preventive actions also grow. Look at the real-time numbers, can one believe, US only has 267 infections but already 14 deaths? If so, the death rate > 5%.
An Harvard scientist estimates 20-60% of the global adult population will ultimately be infected by this virus.
So if given the lower end of WHO official estimate of death rate, say 1%, this would mean > 10-30 million death. Are we near the end of world?
Luckily this is not true. Strict actions have been taken in China and elsewhere. The facts: China keep track of its vast population for travel history and screen for any possible infection when many cities are now resuming work. Earlier in January, thousands of medical workers from around China volunteered to go to the severely infected area of Hubei. Wuhan has swept its communities and households in February to check for untreated sick people, and filled more than 10 newly built hospitals in Wuhan. All the expenses for the care and tests are taken care by the government. Now the growth rate declines steadily there. Given the concentrated medical force, Wuhan is perhaps safer than many other big cities in the world.
Also read this article from Nature.com, genome studies find the virus may not originate from Wuhan, doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00548-w
Do not believe rumors but compare notes!
5
@Stony here is the natural article: genome studies find the virus may not originate from Wuhan: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00548-w
1
@Stony Wuhan has taken the blame for others because the government wanted a reason. now genome studies find the virus may not originate from Wuhan: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00548-w
1
China has a lot of issues. As an American Chinese(one of the last) who was raised by KMT cultured parents who were robbed by and left for dead by the Commune, China's largest problem is that it was led by the uneducated, lazy, and incompetent. Does that make China the ONLY nation to have this no. But we all know China does have enough of this in the culture especially with precision, and safety standards, health standards, and petulant ways of managing people. The time lost and the lack of precision information shared on how Covid19 affects humans is the issue with China.
If they spent as much time and money on getting top talent or actually intelligent leadership, instead of trying to repress the first Chinese doctor that tried to warn the world about it, that could have been more time for the world to respond.
China today is an exact reflection of the priorities' of the leadership and most of the constituency.
5
The first Chinese reaction when the world knew about the coronavirus was very negative. It was violent against the countries that closed their borders.
4
A dark legacy of China's one child policy since 1979 means for the last 40 years the Chinese don't have siblings or cousins or relatives, but in their place exists the Chinese Communist State.
The modern Chinese people seem to show a blind trust and loyalty to their country as a sense of belonging that's manifested as patriotism/nationalism and fealty that the authoritarian Xi is exploiting to the max.
1
I would like to know the origin of the Coronavirus.
Did it come from an exotic animal marketplace or somewhere else?
14
@Sue
The virus is a mutation of other previous virus made in a laboratory. The comments about an exotic animal marketplace is a "mask" of the truth.
@Sue No one will ever know, because the Chinese destroyed the evidence and therein lies the problem. They say it came from a wet market, and the virus jumped from a bat to a pangolin (one of many highly endangered species) that can be found in Chinese markets, but the lack of transparency in China means the truth is unknown.
2
It came from within China and not from outside, however much they protest.
3
As a step towards improving its image, China should take more decisive and clear action to ban wildlife trade, close any and all loopholes related to using animal parts in medicines or for culinary usage, institute humane livestock management practices, and actively enforce all of the above.
64
@Tia They could start by buying 5 billion dollars of Beyond Meat pork product.
I will be convinced of China's leadership when they permanently ban, with enforcement, trade in Wildlife destined either for food or for medicine. Anything less than that shows that China is not sincere in any effort to avoid the development of future viruses.
66
If POTUS has his way the USA will resemble China in its complete lack of transparency. When a country's reputation is as unreliable, untrusted, as China's and a disaster like this strikes, we can see that the financial fallout is tremendous. The same fate awaits the USA if POTUS is allowed to continue to undo the rule of law, which has already been violated repeatedly by him, Barr, and the enablers of the GOP. Our long-term economy will be harmed by autocratic rule, not to mention the loss of precious personal freedoms.
VOTE BLUE
33
Even if it’s Sanders? Thank you in advance.
1
@Rob
This absurd level of projection by a ‘progressive’ is exactly why DJT will win in November.
No way this nation can allow Dems and ‘progressives’ to be anywhere near power at this point in time.
Unfortunate that China is the origin of the 2nd coronavirus. The country has grown very fast for many years and its people can travel around the world, most freely. However, many are still clinching to thousands of years old tradition and eating exotic animals and foods. Strangely, the more rich one is, the strangest foods one eats!!! It is a way of showing someone's richness!!! Sadly for the rest of the world, whatever diseases China gets, the rest gets it within days or weeks. The diseases do not stay in one location and die in one place anymore. The world gets goodies from China and also gets SARS and CORVD-19 from China as well.
23
@Frank They will continue to unleash pandemics until they are held financially accountable. They can't claim "who knew, who knew". It happens every 10 years. What, are we waiting for an extinction event?
2
My prediction is that the virus will do much, much worse in America than it did in China. At least Chinese leadership can be somewhat boastful of that.
Good luck trying to stay away from the disease when the most vulnerable people in this country will all have it and be working.
16
@Andrew Agree. People weren't even self-quarantining for 2 weeks and everyone knew for two months there is an up to 14 day contagious period of no symptoms.
China knew that and acted accordingly by mid January.
USA still had people flying in from MIlan and going to school and work last week.
10
China knew so much, it’s amazing we even have a virus at all! What will a Chinese M.D. have learned through all this: Nobility, duty to patient and honor to the profession will be shunned and then the government will smile and wave after they’ve crushed you! No thanks!
If it's any consolation to China, US "leadership" is making the situation worse, too.
19
In case HBO needs ideas for Chernobyl season 2.
9
Many of the comments I have read seem to ignore a fundamental problem with the response of the Chinese Government: it can't be verified. The CPC has no problem with lying. Perhaps that's true of many governments, but the Western Democracies have a free press, and that means we can verify our governments' statements. We can't do that with China. We have no idea how bad it is. Just look a the photograph of President Xi Jinping. It's utterly staged. Look at the body language of the scientists around them. The whole thing is a show. We may never know just how bad it is in China. As their own citizens are screaming, "It's all fake!"
43
Sorry, but lead stories in the NYT on China COVID-19 are minimum two days behind the real story. Plus they consistently harp on an allegation that China was slow to respond.
The real story is that new confirmed cases in the Wuhan epicenter reached a peak number of 50,633 on Feb 18, and then constantly decreased. The number of discharged patients has now outpaced the new patients. One of the temporary modular field hospitals built exclusively for confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 has discharged most of their patients. The number of new cases is about the same as in December, 2019. Sources: Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection & WHO.
Some Chinese private government organizations are donating respiratory personal protection to other countries now that domestic production is again enough for Chinese internal needs. The online private retail company Alibaba donated 1 million medical masks to Japan. The Shanghai government donated 100,000 surgical masks and 400,000 N95 masks to Korea.
With regard to the allegation of slow response, please name one country in the world that can match the speed and scope with which the Chinese people tackled the COVID-19. Where there was slowness of response, it was centered within parts of the Wuhan government. Once those officials who did not recognize the threat removed, Chinese government official done at all levels moved within credible velocity. But that is a story that the New York Times has to date chosen to ignore.
29
@Svirchev
That’s an interesting point but one wonders what will happen when the people in Wuhan and other areas go back to their normal activities. Will the numbers spike?
5
@Svirchev Have they been successful? Or are they under-reporting to make it appear that they are successful?
@Sue
Once they're good to go, they shouldn't get reinfected or transmit to others.
Interesting how China's government's instinct matches Trump's: to treat everything as principally a PR issue. They'd both have a lot more of my respect if they'd stop putting so much effort into keeping up appearances and just let reality land where it lands.
22
There is a huge difference between chinese in and outside China. As an ABC, I really wish the western world stop bashing us as root cause of the virus. We are all in this together and we speak freely among everyone about its virus cause and possible cures.
But unfortunetly, many medical research labs throughout the USA are under funded. I really hope people can come to there senses that its these advances in research and development that help eleminate these types of outbreaks. Way too much funding was wasted on things like the building the wall or war with iraq.
21
If an animal-to-human virus originated in a wet market that catered to certain cultural preferences, then those who indulge in those preferences are culpable.
35
@Steve nobody’s explained why now? The black market animal diet/trade has been going on for some time.
@Steve As a Chinese person I feel obliged to call out such practices whenever I encounter them. But I have to point out that most Chinese don't eat wildlife. Many condemn such practices.
3
The virus has been linked to China's unregulated markets selling wild game for human consumption. This is not the first disease out-break which has been linked to that source. However, the Chinese government has seen fit to indulge this market because of political considerations. This calculus, although no unlike to United States catering to the gun lobby, has and will cost the Chinese dearly. Hopefully, this will bring about much needed reform.
50
@zipster...I couldn't agree with you more. Consume wild animal is deadly and furthermore China needs to ban the process of exporting this kind of commodity, period.
@Zipster It's costing the world dearly. China won't change until the world starts demanding financial compensation.
2
I would like to read something in the mainstream press about the reports that the COVID-19 was bioengineered and accidentally released by a virology lab in Wuhan. Supposedly, it has the markings of an altered virus. If so, that would explain the CCP early reaction, suppression of information, etc.
From what I have read and heard from people who actually know something about this stuff (not me), the concern is that the virus will mutate as it spreads, which would make it harder to fight. The good news is that it may recede as the Northern Hemisphere moves into warmer weather.
1
@Robert kennedy The bio-engineered conspiracy theory has been debunked by scientists. The virus is nearly identical to virus found in wild animals.
1
@Robert kennedy
I think the MSM does not pick up on that right wing conspiracy theory because there simply is not enough evidence or reliable information to justify an investigation.
1
@Robert kennedy
These conspiracy theories about a weaponized virus being created ina Wuhan lab have been floating around for months, and are almost as bad as the virus itself.
It's amazing the contortions people will twist themselves into to NOT recognize that viruses have been around since the dawn of time, before humans walked the earth. Viruses exist in nature. They don't have to be manufactured in a lab, and unless you provide evidence that this one was, Occam's razor still applies.
And this novel coronavirus has already mutated, according to the latest published research by the Chinese, into two strains, the more virulent "L" strain and the less virulent "S" strain.
Finally, there is no evidence that this virus will abate in warmer weather. I know Trump keeps repeating that, but he's just blowing smoke out of his you-know-what like he always does. We simply don't know enough about this virus yet. As for "people who actually know something about this stuff," infectious disease specialist Laurie Garrett is one such person:
"I was in the #SARS epidemic when the virus spread in snowy Beijing and tropical Hanoi. There is no serious evidence #SARCoV2 is more temp-Sens. BUT 2 things change as NoHemisph heads to summer: open windows and longer days which = more UV light, killing viruses."
https://twitter.com/Laurie_Garrett/status/1235667084283174912
2
When will we see a government wise enough to focus on lessons learned! All the blaming and ego driven pronouncements are not going to cure this virus nor the next.!This should be an opportunity for gathering data,concluding best practices protocols and planning for the next virus! There will be another dangerous virus, we have already had SARS,MERS,Ebola Virus and now COVID-19.How about all countries cooperating with the World Health Organization to set standards and practices-during my lifetime WHO led the successful effort to eradicate Smallpox from the world.Boasting and boosting leader’s egos moves the cause of better health in the wrong direction-we are actually all in this together.
9
@JANET MICHAEL Planning for the next pandemic! We know what causes them. It's like planning for airplane crashes even though you know what is causing the planes to crash.
However we feel about the Chinese Communist party, I think it impossible to not be moved by the resolution and determination of ordinary Chinese people, as seen in the various media. We all owe them a debt for delaying the speed of the outbreak.
22
@Walsh The Chinese people who took to social media to make the world aware of the outbreak put their own safety at peril.
@Walsh
And the Italians et al as well. Italians are generally grumpy and anti-government but they are reportedly taking the recommendations seriously. Of course, they have a government that sends fact-based clear messages. Here we have mixed and ignorant messages from the top and crazy right wing media theories.
@Walsh They did cause the pandemic, so let's not give them too much praise.
1
I remember not too long ago many people, including this paper, saying China’s lack of freedom and democracy allowed this virus to get out of hand. Fast forward two months, and we see the virus spreading out of control in South Korea, Italy, and here in the US, all countries with freedom, democracy, and a two-month head start. I’m waiting for “freedom and democracy” to work its pandemic-stopping magic, and I’m not holding my breadth.
18
@James Right you are! Lets give hereditary absolute power to some American elitist dynasty and watch our quality of life skyrocket. And when i say give, i of course mean that it is taken under threat of violence. Which we all accept without batting an eyelash of course because of the promise of economic advancement :)
9
No one knows how long the coronavirus was spreading in China before the whistle blower exposed it. It could be that it was spreading for months, maybe starting in early September or October, deaths labeled common pneumonia. If that is the case, and leaders in China *knew*, there is massive blame and shame to be unleashed. The public has a right to know so it can defend itself with the proper information.
8
The dirty habit of wild animal markets caused this outbreak. This is probably also a tradition of many Asian countries, and it needs to stop, as it is a public health threat to the entire world.
That having been said, after a bad start, China has effectively stopped the outbreak in its country, and its response recently will be seen as among the most effective responses, compared to say Italy or Iran, whose infections are spreading uncontrollably.
24
@Herr Andersson I assumed that the markets help to address the needs of the world's most populated nation. Despite being an economic powerhouse, China struggles with hunger and malnutrition due to wealth disparity.
@Herr Andersson American factory farms are disgusting operations too. If (when) an American factory farm unleashes a pandemic we should hold them accountable (financially) too.
3
Thank you for raising this point. When I told my China-born parents that I hope this outbreak would stop the terrible practice of wildlife sale and consumption they quickly reminded me that it isn’t necessarily that they want to, but that many Chinese live in extreme poverty and do what they can to survive. There are many beautiful and effective contributions the Chinese have made to the holistic medical world that has saved many lives (including myself) from the limitations of western medicine.
It’s obvious something shifted over the course of many, perhaps hundreds of years where they are no longer acting in harmony with nature. This outbreak is terrible, but not unexpected. I hope this raises awareness within Chinese culture that something needs to change.
Typical authoritarian reactions to natural phenomena for which they have no coerce power which they may apply. The fools were more concerned about controlling people than about addressing a natural challenge. Common among people given authority to act for societies throughout history, they love the power more than the people who provide it.
4
China has shown us how dangerous diseases are caused and spread in an authoritarian dictatorship with no freedom of speech.
12
The US will soon enough, and I believe already is, facing the same ridicule. Both our dictators rightfully so.
7
Virologists say that open societies with open information and a non-hierarchical system are best to get in front of a pandemic.
But governments can't do all that much about a virus. Once it gets going and really takes off, a hierarchal authoritarian government is best able to move fast with the necessary draconian measures like barricading 50,000,000 people.
This is no ordinary flu since the fatality for seniors is more like 20%, not the 2% average for all ages. It's also very easily transmitted and may mutate to transmit faster. The problem with any virus is it is a moving target that changes and adapts fast.
Because this virus has not yet ramped up in the US our response has not yet been tested. We might find that China's health care response is far superior to ours, as our healthcare system is ranked 27th in the world.
17
@Fourteen14 I ask you this. How many people from around the world go to China for serious health problems compared to coming here. If you get sick I would suggest trying to get care in one of the other 26 better countries. People are trying to get in this country rather than other countries. Also many other countries have stricter rules about getting in.
I mean I feel like most U.S. media has a bias toward CCP. I'm from Hong Kong, but I really support CCP's measures of blocking cities and greatly restricting traveling but not the silencing of press. You can criticize the CCP for silencing dissents as much as you want. But they successfully contain the spread of the coronavirus and possibly save millions of lives. Some people in the comment section say China doesn't deserve the sympathy. Truth to be told, I was shocked to see such a comment. Perhaps the CCP doesn't deserve the sympathy since they didn't handle this right at first. Nevertheless, we're facing one of the most dangerous virus in human history, I don't think this is the right time to talk politics. And Chinese people DO DESERVE YOUR SYMPATHY. They are dying and struggling. Don't let politics alienate us as we human beings are facing the coronavirus together.
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@Lam I agree that the ordinary Chinese people deserve our sympathy. But certainly not the CCP. We should not trade liberty of the Chinese people for our security or theirs. Since you and I are from Asia, we should absorb Paine's famous call " give me liberty or give me death".
Hitler and Mussolini also promised (and in some cases delivered) efficiency in government. But it did not end well. It never does when dictators like CCP are in power.
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@Lam They closed the city after an estimated 300,000 people evaded the lockdown. Not very effective.
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@Lam Maybe I'm missing something. Coronavirus is at our doorstep now. What exactly did they successfully contain?
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A challenge. Rather than indulge in more China bashing, why doesn't the West, and in particular the US, show them how it's done? While COVID emerged there, even enlightened Nature worshippers can bring something home (Hanta- Yosemite). The test is how such a crisis is dealt with, both to protect a nation's citizens, but also the world. So, are we able to show that a Western, open, democratic, free market society can do better? Are there fewer lies and obfuscations? More transparency? More competence? So far, Team USA is faring quite poorly despite plenty of warning, time and information, compared to what was available to the Chinese at the beginning. Talk is cheap, let's see some action.
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@Pigsy South korea did better, they didn't have to silence any doctors or scientists or arrest bloggers.
And there has been action to ban flights from china, more countries should have done this but no, then they'd be called xenophobic.
Your cheap talk of "warning" does no good when the original whistle blower doctors were punished by the chinese govt. RIP Dr Li Wenliang
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@Pigsy The only action the West wants to see is Chinese people making a concerted effort to stop their nonsensical cultural practices which are resulting in the deaths of thousands outside of China.
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@M. Paire
I am not saying that China is above reproach. I am asking why my country is not able to do better. The US, we, had a lot of warning. So they silenced Dr. Li, but we knew about it. We knew about the virus. We knew it would get here. We basically did nothing. Speaking of South Korea, they can test people every which way, while we have trouble assembling a functional test kit. The "cheap talk" is not coming out of my mouth, it's Pence claiming that we are going to test a million, it's Trump saying that we have this licked. I am challenging my country, our leaders, to stop telling me how we are the best, but to show me.
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China still has millions of people locked up in Wuhan, now for over two months. I suspect they have many deaths not reported, and many more infected. That these people are receiving the food and care that they need is hard for me to believe. Now that the coronavirus is active in other countries the humanitarian crisis in Wuhan doesn't seem to be a blip in the collective consciousness. From what we know of the availability of ventilators, ICU space and medical personnel, most health care systems around the world will fall short in this pandemic with a resulting increase in mortality. I doubt, however, that other societies, unlike the Chinese leadership, will resort to locking people into their apartment buildings.
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@M.B.
You and many of the readers here sound very uninformed of the situation in Wuhan and China. As of now, more than 40% of the entire country's medical resources has been poured into the city and province, many of them top in their field. Thousands and more of the medical workers volunteered to go to the severely infected area, hoped to make every little bit of relief for the situation. Currently, the availability of ventilators in Wuhan is probably higher (and much higher) than anywhere on this planet. The existing hospital along with the 3 newly built ones are heavily equipped with high tech examining tools such as CT scans and MRI and devoted to care for patients of severe cases while more than dozen other temporary hospitals, converted from local gyms and warehouses, take care of the milder cases. AND the government are taking care of all the expenses for all the care and tests. I would worry more about the American people in general, and those without or with sub-par health insurance in particular.
Locking up people sure don't look good. But would you share what kind of measure you would like to see for quarantine?
Criticize the Chinese Government all it deserves. Afterall, many in the leadership positions worry only their own political career. But be more informed of the FACTs.
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In a year or so, it will be interesting to compare the infection rates across countries. By infection rate, I mean the total confirmed cases divided by population. If the Chinese numbers are to be believed, the infection rates in provinces outside Wuhan are a tiny fraction of a percent. The Wuhan infection rate is much much higher. Before casting aspersions, let’s see if other nations come even close to the low infection rates seen _outside_ Wuhan. All the data is at the Systems Science Center at Johns Hopkins. Of course there is a measurement problem since we don’t know the true count of cases due to limits of testing. But it is a start.
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We also simply cannot trust data of the government of China as we can trust other nations’. This fundamental lack of openness and honesty is precisely why we need to be critical and pass reasonable aspersions.
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China bashing became a favourite sport for some in West, and it is extremely ill informed.
Let's talk about few facts to illustrate how so:
1. Coronavirus started in China, that is an indisputable fact.
2. Chinese government banned wet markets after SARS on 2015, all it did is to move it underground. As long as there is economic need for it, it does and will exist.
3. China quarantined entire provinces to slow down its spread and is putting all it could to developing a cure or a vaccine.
4. China informed WHO of its progress, findings and sick people from day one.
Diseases do not respect borders, ideologies, religions and skin color.
This is time to respect each other and act in solidarity, not bickering. China bashing needs to end, because it is neither fair nor productive to do so.
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@Socrates
Sars was in 2003. They learned nothing. The head of the province hurt worst by Sars, Zhang Dejiang, a Xi crony, was promoted all the way to the Politburo Standing Committee.
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One (naive) man's "China bashing" is another's shining the light on a totalitarian dictatorship. Why would such a prolific commenter want to quiet criticism of that regime?
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Chinese officials denied that the virus existed for two weeks before taking any action.
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@Socrates China's reported case numbers have not changed for at least two weeks. Do you think that is correct, that they have stopped the spread completely? I do not. Like us they are a fascist government and thus are incapable of telling the truth.
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The facts behind how Beijing suppressed its own doctors' cries for help and attempts to save lives have been well-documented, led by China's own citizens.
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The Chinese Communist Party is pathologically incapable of telling the truth. That they would even try to revise history while the crisis is still in progress indicates great insecurity by Xi and co.
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Xi stood next to Obama on the White House lawn and stated point blank that China would not militarized the South China Sea. Now it's an arsenal.
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As ugly as our open democracy is currently, no form of government beats it. Totalitarian dictatorships have caused hundreds of millions of deaths in the last century. The CCP top that list. That won't stop until they're in the used facemask bin of history.
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@West Coaster Our open democracy has proven less effective than that of Europe so far in handling major challenges to human well being.
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@West Coaster
I'm guessing our government would do the same thing - lie about everything that makes it look bad.
Trump is already doing that; of course he lies about everything anyway.
All governments are designed to keep the People down, not to help them out as they say. Covering up information is one of the best and easiest ways to control the People.
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@paul
WWI.
WWII.
Cold War.
Science.
Space.
UN
WTO
NATO
Etc.
Etc.
Yadda.
Yadda.
.
We have plenty of problems.
We'll fix them.
.
(P.S. Not a Maga guy.)
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Dear China,
Stop allowing wet markets to operate. Stop eating exotic foods. It’s 2020.
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@Renee China does not own wet markets. You are talking about most of developing countries.
In fact, most virus outbreak is related to the interaction between animal and human. You could say this then:
stop eating cow to prevent mad cow disease
stop eating chicken to prevent flu outbreak
stop eating meat if you see where I am going to.
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@Curious george A government capable of incarcerating and monitoring millions of Uighur citizens and censoring social media in milliseconds should have been capable to shut down the wet markets after the 2003 SARS epidemic. The political will wasn't there and functionaries were serving each other exotic meats to impress. This is a fundamental failure of the CCP, plain and simple.
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@Curious george But mad cow disease and avian flu's are tightly regulated by western governments! That's why they don't produce pandemics. let's just ask China to do what we do to prevent deaths from animal-human contagion. Do they have a right to create and spread these viruses because they won't regulate the causes?
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China is directly responsible for this epidemic as it was for SARS. They have failed to close exotic animal markets which have been the source of these outbreaks. They do not deserve sympathy. Their complaints indicate they have learned nothing
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Under the category of reciprocity, why does Hua Chunying, the CCP's ubiquitous spokesperson, have a Twitter account? Why do any of these propaganda ministry people have them? They use these to come right into our homes and attack us.
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The CCP exploit our openness and laugh at us behind our back. It's time to wake up and demand reciprocity. When it's not forthcoming, propagandists like Hua should lose their propaganda privileges, starting with their Twitter accounts.
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We are not doing any better in terms of combating the Coronavirus. Here in New York City, a place with 8 million population, we only have 30+ tests done as of Friday despite the fact that we have known the Virus for almost 3 months now. And what's wrong with the CDC, they have stopped disclosing the numbers of Americans tested and death a few days ago. While we condemn lots of problems with the Chinese government, our government deserves more criticism for its greater incompetence and the lack of transparency.
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@Bruce Exactly. If and when we are doing better, then we can point out fingers at others.
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@Bruce We elected Trump the incompetent business magnate who managed to lose money in the casino business when others were raking it in. Now despite the finest folk in medical technology in our labs and universities and hospitals and drug companies, Trump has again demonstrated his genius for incompetence. How is it that S Korea has already tested over 100,000 people while we have tested only 500 so far?
Answer: Donald Trump is at the helm mucking it up!!!
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@LBob
Or we can help them out...
China has lost all credibility of becoming the world leader it aspires to.
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@EC The same could be said about us given our response to the virus.
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@EC
Given U.S. behavior on the world stage in recent years, does the U.S. have credibility as a world leader?
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China has been trying to rebuild the tributary system where other countries essentially feed the country with raw materials in return for manufactured goods. The Asian version of colonialism. The failure to contain the virus is going to cost the world hundreds of billions of dollars in costs and lost productivity.
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China contained its virus. It is now South Korea, Europe and the US that are failing to control the virus.
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Why would you believe the CCP’s count when they brutally suppressed initial reports of the virus? The Party is solely concerned with saving face. It’s members couldn’t care less about actual human lives as even a cursory glance at its history will reveal.
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China should be pressured by the rest of the world to shut down permanently wild (and endangered) live animals markets. All major viruses of recent have originated from them. They claim to have prohibited the sale of wild animals now but allows it for traditional medicine? Nice loophole!
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@F.F. Look out your claim - "All major viruses of recent have originated from them." it looks your only remember something you want to memorize such as corona virus and SARS because both outbreak in China. How about H1N1? Ebola? MERS? You can say it is wrong to eat wild animals, but don't pretend to be the God.
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@F.F.
Agreed. And after those are closed, they should shut down the Propaganda Ministry.
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This is just another of the inevitable failures due to Chinese Communism. By comparison, Taiwan has managed the virus very well.
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@Grace Yeah, right, as if the capitalist US under Trump is doing any better.
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@Grace Absolutely! And so does US, the light tower of democracy~
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Can’t it be both? I think they deserve credit for any donations they’re able to make to their neighbors in the cause of easing the spread and suffering of the coronavirus. However, that does not erase the fact that their poor initial response accelerated the spread of the virus within their own borders, which led to its later spread around the globe.
They could also try being magnanimous. Clearly their priority is fiercely protecting their reputation. Instead of “keeping score” on who treated them badly, their reputation would improve much more by admitting their mistakes, forgetting old scores, and committing to help any country that needs it. If entire industries are rethinking their choice to be so integrated with China, they won’t be able to reassure them by suggesting that the virus could have originated elsewhere but even if it was from Wuhan, we fired those incompetent officials already so everything should be fine.
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@Brian Yeah. Spot on. I'm so tired of this kind of analysis which come with a fixed stance and narrative. This blurs a lot of concrete distinctions, ones as you've pointed out.
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Why is the US government so ill-prepared for Corvus-19 despite widespread knowledge of its infectiousness? It has fewer test kits than Canada at this moment. The example of an infected patient not tested for many days (Solano County, California) because of the unavailability of test kits is an example. Why is China criticized for the US government’s inadequacy?
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@PKW this outbreak didn’t start in Cleveland. Remember how the U.S.A. was rightly blamed for the Great Recession? It’s like that accept that this time it’s China’s fault.
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@PKW China criticism and US lack of preparedness aren't mutually exclusive. The latter being true doesn't make the former underserved/inappropriate.
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@PKW They are criticized for their own inadequacy. The US should receive criticism as well. Both governments are fascist in nature and dictate reality. It doesn't work to change anything but the minds of the weak, and is totally inadequate when dealing with reality.
Which part of China's response deserves plaudits? The covering up of the outbreak? The muzzling of scientific professionals? The sudden disappearance of anyone who questions the official party line?
I'm not seeing how a ruthless, brutal dictatorship deserves our sympathy.
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@CP
Not to mention this was a research experiment gone wrong....Someone needs to really question where this virus originated.
In addition, start a Change.org campaign for China to go vegan, or atleast convert to conventional animal meat.
China deserves all that's coming to it.
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@MS China deserves it, but the countries it infected do not.
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@CP Are we more transparent? Do you trust the US government? I don't. The government told us to wash our hands. Hand sanitizers are nowhere to be found. Everyone is Asia is wearing a face mask, and our government told us the face masks are useless. I don't believe them. The underlying reason is we can't buy them.
We can blame China for all we want. At the end of the day, our financial market collapses and we will be licking our wounds at the end.
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As America and other Western country tries to place themselves on a moral high-ground and weaken the Chinese Communist Party, the attacks of their own people on ethnic Chinese (regardless of citizenship) proves otherwise.
There are plenty of Chinese-Americans/Europeans who detest the Communist rule back in the Mainland, but they're often caught between a rock and a hard place by Westerners who view all Chinese (and non-Chinese Asians...I mean who could possibly tell the difference, right?) as CCP cadres and attack indiscriminately, whether through words or violence.
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@Tek - China thinks that the last 200 years is an anomaly - that they will go back to 1000 years of "Greater China" - God forbid!
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@Tek Thank you for speaking out. As a liberally minded Chinese I'm sad to see many news reports painting everything under the broad brush "China", and fear that innocent Chinese and Chinese-Americans or even Asian-Americans will bear the brunt...
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@Xin the infected in Europe are bearing the brunt.
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EXCELLENT ARTICLE Right to the Point of Why We are in this Situation , This Virus is a Much Needed Lesson for the World and the Global Order of Business and Politics as Well as the Overall Health of Mankind as a Species!
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