This is a laughable response by our own populists and neocons to cover up their responsibility. China might have tried to cover up the outbreak initially and they were incompetent too, but since late January at least the Chinese scientists had described in great detail the symptoms of the disease and the need for ventilators, ECMO and PPE. The western governments had ample warning.
Originally Posted by: xioni2
Nobody is pointing the finger at frontline medics and scientists in China, and the excellent data, experience and helpful advice they shared.
But the Chinese government apparatchiks have behaved reprehensibly, especially in the early weeks of the contagion. They even arrested a doctor who, through professional integrity, had alerted the WHO (?) to the emerging disaster, whilst the CPC sought to suppress news.
Let's also not fall in into the trap of classing the Chinese regime as in any way communist. They are State Capitalists. The CPC is like the parent company, with all the other corporations operating there being de facto subsidiaries. Their authoritarianism, accepted by the Chinese people decades ago as necessary to defeat another tyranny, has allowed them to impose working conditions that we would view as horrendous, force millions out of their homes and into desperate penury to make way for their industrial revolution, and crap all over the concept of human rights. It is effectively akin to a feudal-capitalism system, with a tiny minority allowed to become mega-rich and powerful, whilst the majority do the work that makes these people rich.
It's not a system for anyone even vaguely left-of-centre to admire. It's the epitome of the kind of socio-economic system that any left-of-centre person should despise.
Martin
Home: St Helens (26m asl) Work: Manchester (75m asl)
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