We are currently living through the coronavirus pandemic. Like many, I have been glued to the TV, scouring the internet, reading newspapers (yes, those print things still exist) all in the hope of finding out what on earth is happening. I have seen, heard, and read various fact based, and opinion (good and bad) pieces and naturally, I have formulated my own thoughts. As I penned my thoughts, I have linked to the various pieces that have influenced my opinions and I quote at length only because I want to provide a full picture – also, plagiarism is bad!)
This opinion is the first of few in a series that I will write. In this first part, I talk about coronavirus in terms of China and the West (with focus on the United States). China because that’s where the virus spread out from and the West because their handling of the crisis offers valuable lessons for African nations. Also, the West (and the United States in particular) and China are the two dominate geopolitical spheres of influence and if Africa, as a whole, is to rise, it is necessary to understand how these spheres operate in times of crisis. Lastly, by looking at China and the West several themes important themes such as nationalism, borders, socialism, governance, power, and many more emerge – it is important to understand the themes and how they play out in times of crisis.
I will address the lessons Africa (particularly, Zambia) can learn from China’s, and the West’s (and indeed the United States’) handling (more like mishandling) of the coronavirus crisis. For instance, African nations need to learn how to be fiscally sober because as evidenced by the United States fiscal insobriety hampers, even the world’s largest economy, flexibility in times of crisis. In another, why having a nation headed by an authoritarian (think President Xi) can negatively affect how the nation handles a crisis. I will also discuss why Africa ought to rethink its relationship with China considering China’s actions and inactions regarding the coronavirus crisis. (Other lessons and themes will relate to issues like nationalism, Pan Africanism, and socialism).
China the menace
China is to blame for the current global crisis: The coronavirus crisis is a creature of China’s political posture– “it was caused in part by incompetent, malicious, and corrupt politicians.” – in particular, President Xi. Xi’s “prime concern was not lives at risk, or containment of the virus, but rather the nation’s and his reputation and place in the global supply chain and his grip on power. In this, Xi is much like every other autocrat who prioritises everything above the well-being of his own people, let alone others’.” (Maybe a more apropos name for the virus would be “Xi’s disease”).
In an article on Nationalreview.com, Michael Brendan Dougherty highlights some of the more egregious shenanigans (recent and past) the Chinese government has engaged in – Dougherty writes:
China has been a persistently bad actor in the public-health arena, before and during the initial outbreak. They are also transparent opportunists.
China made its first mistake more than a decade ago. After the outbreak of SARS in 2003, China initially promised to [close] its “wet markets,” where exotic animals are slaughtered for human consumption. Chinese consumers eat bats and pangolins for superstitious fad-health reasons. But these markets are a vector for transmitting diseases from bats and other animals to humans. Just one year after a SARS outbreak that panicked East Asia, China reopened these markets despite many warnings from scientists and health authorities that they were a public-health menace to the entire world.
Speaking of those authorities, this crisis has revealed how China has suborned and corrupted the World Health Organisation (WHO), which, for political reasons, ignored credible warnings about the new coronavirus from doctors in Taiwan and instead credulously repeated statistics from authorities in Beijing, the ones downplaying the extent of the crisis. The WHO delayed calling the virus a health emergency and then criticised U.S. travel restrictions placed on China, without reference to public-health reasoning, only to vague ideology. The WHO was trying to save China its embarrassment. And still, China wouldn’t cooperate transparently with the WHO.
China silenced whistleblowers who tried to warn the world of the emerging disease. [China] censored news reports until it finally relented and threw tremendous resources at fighting the disease in Wuhan.
But experienced and skeptical observers of China are throwing a great deal of cold water on China’s announcements that it has defeated the virus and that work is about to commence again, suggesting that the reported numbers about Wuhan’s infection and death toll could be seriously understated.
Now, during the crisis, China is acting like a bully. The state has threatened to withhold key pharmaceuticals to increase the pain on Americans, saying that without them America will be “plunged into the mighty sea of coronavirus.” Further, China is currently setting restrictions on such American companies as 3M that manufacture medical-grade masks and other safety equipment in China, barring them from exporting these goods from China for use in America and other nations where there is a current shortage. Worst of all, China is actively spreading propaganda that COVID-19 is a bioweapon invented by the U.S. Army. As if this is not bad enough, China has expelled from its territory all American national reporters working for the prestige newspapers of the United States.
In short order, here is what we now about the coronavirus pandemic and China’s government: coronavirus is linked to wildlife trade in so-called “wet markets”; coronavirus originated in and spread out from China; the Chinese government lied and spread misinformation about coronavirus (Axios also has a timeline of the early days of the coronavirus and the Chinese governments coverup); the current global crisis was made possible by the decisions of the Chinese government; and the Chinese government disappears and silences critics of its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
It is incumbent for the world to hold the Chinese menace accountable. China’s outstandingly bad and shocking conduct is directly responsible for the global transmission and uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus (and the current economic, social, and emotional turmoil being felt across the world links back to China).
Refreshingly Boris Johnson and officials in the United Kingdom recognise what a menace China is and warning that Beijing faces a “reckoning” once the COVID-19 crisis is over. United Kingdom officials are quoted as saying “[The United Kingdom] is going to be back to the diplomatic drawing board after this. Rethink is an understatement”; “there has to be a reckoning when this is over;” and “the anger goes right to the top.” Hopefully, anger is not confined to the tiny island kingdom but rather is widespread. China should not be allowed to expand its sphere of influence because as the current crisis is laying bare its government is reprehensible and utterly irresponsible.
The views expressed in part one of this article are Nkosi Mfumu’s own opinions and not necessarily those of Business Tech Africa.
About the author: Zambia-based lawyer (licensed to practice in the State of Illinois) holds a BA in International Studies (with a concentration in International Relations) and is also a Juris Doctor.
