The institutional flattery of the communist government in Beijing was something we had to tolerate back in the days when the establishment still saw China as a rich vein for trade deals and other lucrative goodies. It was easier then for political leaders to shrug at China’s conduct when the victims were in Tibet, or Hong Kong, or the Uyghurs of Xinjiang. But now the whole world is paying dearly for Beijing’s behaviour. And China is scrambling to dodge responsibility, now promoting conspiracy theories that the virus was actually spread by the U.S. military, and provoking Trump into harping on this being a “Chinese virus.” A more salient debate isn’t whether that’s racist, but whether Trump is unwittingly giving Beijing more material it can use to play the victim with.
This pandemic has cost our economies billions, if not yet trillions, and will cost us far more yet. Its human toll will be staggering and permanent. We will likely persevere, but what the world can no longer afford is the threat to our collective health and well-being that is the Chinese communist regime. As it desperately tries to salvage its legitimacy, let’s at least refrain from helping with that. This isn’t the first deadly viral epidemic to emerge from their country and it probably won’t be the last. The good people of China will have to cure themselves of this communist government if we all hope to survive the next one.
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