Opinion | The new China COVID scare
By Tom Fowdy
Throughout human history, disease outbreaks have long been a promulgator of racism and xenophobia. When the black death savaged medieval Europe in the 14th century, populations reacted by turning to antisemitism, weaponizing a claim that the disease was a conspiracy by Jews who had poisoned the water supply. This led to violence and pogroms throughout the continent. 5 centuries later, during the 19th century, when the Cholera epidemic emerged in England, people scapegoated that Irish immigrants has been responsible.
While humanity evolves and collectively becomes more intelligent, some things don't change, and the inclination to scapegoat epidemics on a "foreign" group or entity, remains. In fact, modernity has only served to consolidate this belief in the west. That is because the phenomenon of "orientalism" has drawn a contrast between the idea of a "civilized and humane west" with an "uncivilized and inhumane" East. Most western people look upon the non-west as being backward, dirty and unenlightened.
As such, it is common to frame diseases as something "oriental" which does not "happen" to our own people. One would think that the COVID-19 pandemic, which is dominant throughout the entire world, may teach the west some lessons about this complacent sense of mind, not least given the catastrophic death tolls experienced in countries such as the UK and US. But it has not in the slightest. Rather, as we see with new reactions to the outbreak in China, the idea that disease is something to be feared and scapegoated on the "oriental other" continues to dominate.
Beyond the subject of China, British people have long held a state of mind that COVID no longer "exists". A year ago, Boris Johnson's government proclaimed "freedom day", that is no more COVID restrictions whatsoever, life can go back to normal and the nation can pretend there isn't a pandemic. COVID is "just another flu", as they said. In turn, the UK government does not publish the "R" rate in the number of daily cases and has rigged statistics in a number of other areas. Similarly, across the Atlantic, despite deaths still amounting to over 700 a day, the assumption is there is no pandemic anymore, and most US states do not report it.
Yet how is it, from a mindset of denial surrounding COVID, that these countries than flip a switch and suddenly turn towards igniting widespread fear of the disease, from China? The media have weaponized so-called fears of "new variants", but why is a new variant more likely to develop in China, than back home? Where have never been any COVID restrictions? Why is it likewise that travel restrictions are not imposed on any other respective country? When there were millions of cases in the US, no other government in the western world behaved like this? Even recently, with US COVID hospitalizations being at an all-time high, the media nor politicians seem to care.
Likewise, the medical advisors to the British government, led by Chris Witty (who is constantly ignored for populist purposes) said travel restrictions on incoming Chinese were unnecessary, but as reported in the Guardian, he was ignored and overruled, for "political" reasons. When all else is considered, the motivation to single out, discriminate against and scapegoat China is politically and racially motivated. It is a form of orientalism juxtaposed with "yellow peril" fear, the discourse that an untamed China represents an existential and unequivocal threat to the civilization of the west.
This is masked by such language claiming "China lacks transparency" or "there may be new variants", and the same population, who have been taught to now ignore COVID, suddenly buy into the sentiment of fear. All in all, when one also considers the extent to which the media gaslighted, smeared and relentlessly attacked China's zero-COVID policy as inhumane and oppressive, you realize just how disgraceful this discourse truly is. None of it is scientific and all of it is in pure bad faith. The weaponization of the fear of China is ultimately part of the world we live in, and that has for the past three years, involved the weaponization and stigmatization of a disease outbreak, playing to the worst instincts of humanity.
The author is a well-seasoned writer and analyst with a large portfolio related to China topics, especially in the field of politics, international relations and more. He graduated with an Msc. in Chinese Studies from Oxford University in 2018.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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