I have said before that if the epidemic in China takes a turn for the better while it deteriorates here in Taiwan, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would see that as proof that its dictatorship is better than democracy and encourage victims to overturn Taiwan’s government.
Unexpectedly, this is already happening, although aimed at the US and other Western democracies rather than Taiwan. China is not only extolling its response to the epidemic, it is also playing down the fact that it caused the pandemic and recasting itself as a benefactor, expecting other countries to be grateful. It even claims that the virus originated in the US.
Normally the CCP is happy criticizing people for being shameless, but this is no longer enough. The dignity of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and China is plumbing new depths.
COVID-19 indisputably originated in Wuhan. The city was locked down by the CCP because of the huge number of people who were infected, making the city an international focal point.
Before the CCP’s counterattack, it used its media outlets to spread the false image that everything was fine and sing China’ praises, while the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed the US.
China is normally more careful with other countries, but this has been ignored by its diplomats and media, who, for example, have claimed that medical supplies Italy bought were gifted to them by China and fabricated scenes of gratitude, displeasing Italy, the most China-friendly government in the EU.
China’s WHO lackeys are asking that other countries thank Beijing, disregarding that it was the WHO’s collusion with Beijing to cover up the epidemic that caused the pandemic.
When Alibaba Group Holding founder Jack Ma (馬雲) gave masks to South Korea, it was discovered that some of them were made in South Korea. This can only mean that masks given to China by South Korea had found their way into the hands of CCP officials who then sold them.
Without a shred of evidence, China’s foreign ministry recklessly claimed that the virus causing COVID-19 was brought to Wuhan by US soldiers in October last year.
Why then did the virus first emerge in Wuhan, as it should first have spread in the US and neighboring countries if US soldiers were infected? In addition, the first people to bring it to other countries were Chinese and foreigners who had visited China.
Furthermore, this is a case of publicly smearing and provoking the US. Will Washington accept China treating it as a local government under the Celestial Empire and claiming that the virus originated there?
These diplomatic skirmishes could develop into war. China’s foreign ministry made earnest and hardworking Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) its appointed thug, and then the CCP’s media and 50 Cent Army followed suit.
The reason China is trying to rewrite the history of COVID-19 is to keep Xi’s international problems less urgent than the domestic crisis he faces, including a stuttering economy, blame from the Chinese public and opposition from within the CCP. He is dealing with these issues by stirring up nationalism.
The cure might be worse than the disease. In addition to the US and other Western countries, Xi has also offended Southeast Asian countries, and even members of its own anti-US alliance. For example, many top leaders and legislators in Iran have been infected by the virus, and they can hardly be accused of being in close contact with the US.
This can only end with the world ganging up on Xi and the CCP.
Paul Lin is a political commentator.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017