China, coronavirus and the world

Each tragedy has its own silver-lining. It brings the best out of humans and also reveals the worst of human inner-self. The relentless march of civilisation has brought us to a point in human history where slavery is extinct; human and animal rights are the prevalent cadence; democracy the resonant mantra; and feminism — with “me too” as its battle cry — defining the essence of our times. Interestingly, all these notions are Western in origin and are propped up and supported by Western states and civil society. The torch-bearers of Renaissance and Reformation hold the world accountable to any actual or perceived infringement of these cited human ethos. The West in general is the self-appointed leader supporting and propagating humanity, high-minded ethos and morality.

However, the coverage of coronavirus, the deadly epidemic that afflicts the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) leaves bare the insensitive and often inhuman side of these very stalwarts of morality. The reporting of the tragedy by the Western media leaves deep scars on our collective conscience as it is racist, bigoted and exposes the double standards that have become the norm in our world, wherein Western life is more precious than Eastern life. White life is more valuable than that of people of colour or of the erstwhile Orient. People in the developed world deserve more humanness than those of the developing or under-developed world. This chauvinism is simply shameful… since there is no other word for it.

Understandably, this outbreak has acquired more media space than other epidemics including the Ebola epidemic in 2018. As per a study by Time, articles in the English-language press covering the coronavirus outbreak during its first month (January 12-February 13, 2020) were 23 times more compared to those covering Ebola. The 100 high-circulation international newspapers have collectively published over 9,387 stories about the disease, creating an atmosphere of fear.

If one puts the over 2,000 deaths from coronavirus into perspective, the findings clearly point to an anti-China and anti-Chinese bias in reporting. Seasonal influenza alone kills 290,000 to 650,000 people around the world every year, as per WHO estimates. The international press has published just 488 articles on the seasonal influenza since January 12, 2020. Similarly, the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic that broke out in the US caused over 18,000 deaths worldwide.

The broad themes followed in the cited reporting of coronavirus include political point-scoring against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hitting at its governance, response and even divisions within. It goes further to stigmatise the Chinese food and culinary habits. The outbreak is being identified with China and the Chinese people in insensitive racial profiling. The developed West, led by the US, is seeing this human tragedy as an opportunity to obstruct the rise of China and as some say, “kick China when it is down”.

There is very less empathy towards China and its people and such coverage is few and far between. Unfortunately, very credible publications have fallen to such sullen standards in this disturbing slide. The Danish newspaper, The Jutland Post, published a cartoon, replacing the five stars of the Chinese national flag with pictograms of the coronavirus. True to their record, the Danish politicians hid behind the facade of “freedom of speech”, conveniently overlooking the intended “freedom to offend”. Finding a connection between China and the virus is insensitive and callous, as tragedy can afflict anyone, anywhere, anytime.

The Wall Street Journal, one of the most prestigious international papers, sadly published an Op-Ed titled, “China is the Real Sick Man of Asia”. It is an indifferent editorial oversight to give space to such acid-laden and cruel depiction of China — even as an Op-Ed — during China’s hour of need and grief. A French publication, Courrier Picard, headlined the tragedy as “Yellow Alert”, validating equal thoughtlessness. And to the dismay of most serious-minded newspaper readership, the respected German publication, Der Spiegel, goes to the extent of stating “Corona-Virus, Made in China”. Quite interestingly, another venerable journal, Foreign Policy, frames the outbreak as a result of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that enabled a local disease to become global. The fault, ostensibly, lies with President Xi Jinping. The Washington Times thinks — in a bizarre manner — that the virus might be China’s secret biological weapon to ‘undermine’ political and territorial rivals.

Not remaining left out, UK tabloids, Daily Mail and The Sun, ascribed the epidemic to the Chinese eating bats and other animals, blaming them squarely for the epidemic. The tabloids conveniently overlook that bats are eaten in many countries, from Africa to the Oceania. The not too hidden swipe is that of an “exotic” disease spreading from “dirty and distant lands”. A politically different worldview is no moral justification for such inaccurate and insensitive coverage that smells of both bigotry and amnesia.

On the street, the situation is no better. To be from the Hubei province (of which Wuhan is the capital) or even just to be Chinese is to be a danger to others and must be shunned. Not only be shunned but also blamed for the outbreak. Such dangerous narratives portray vulnerable populations as virulent carriers, not victims deserving empathy. Canada, like the UK has also witnessed racism, abuse and stereotyping of the Chinese community as deaths increased from the outbreak.

Sensing an opportunity to berate the CCP, critics have blamed the party for concealing the true scale of the epidemic and then responding slowly. Concealment no, slow response yes. But then how does a country instantaneously know if people falling mysteriously sick in different locations of a big metropolis are victims of an epidemic? Yes, when the sickness piled and diagnosis did not come by, the PRC responded and responded with effect. Chinese officials admitted to their initial slackness. Today, China has taken the most effective measures to deal with the epidemic — locking down whole cities, barricading neighbourhoods, limiting travel to bare necessity, mobilising the largest volunteer force in decades, raising hospitals overnight, exponentially increasing bed space in hospitals and providing the best possible medicare to Chinese and foreigners alike, in the best possible manner.

One is reminded of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the stoicism of the Chinese state and its people. China’s 1.4 billion people need our moral support at least, if nothing else. For them, this too shall pass, differentiating their friends from nemesis. The red dragons and sleeping giants of the Middle Kingdom have a long memory.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2020.

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