Look, governments are not necessarily nice things but they are necessary things. A virus mutation could happen anywhere and I suggest to you that many governments, including ours, would prevaricate and dissemble about it if it started on their own territory. Stones, glass houses and all that. I'm not here to defend any government, least of all one as authoritarian as that of China but I really do feel that your constant finger pointing and accusatory tone is not helpful and can only serve to make things worse, bearing in mind that this is a global problem and our best defence is to cooperate with others to defeat it. What we all need right now is open cooperation, not blaming and jingoism.
Our own colonial history in SE Asia strongly suggests that we will never be in a position to demand anything from China, let alone financial compensation. Since that isn't ever going to happen, the only possible result of stirring up hatred and mistrust is a mutually equivalent response which can only harm cooperation and thus, all of us. I entreat you to keep your thoughts on this subject to yourself for the time being. There may be a time to discuss it in the future but that time certainly isn't now.
Originally Posted by: Ulric