In times of uncertainty, it is only natural to ask questions in search of some semblance of certainty. One question commonly asked during this pandemic is: “Who is to blame for COVID-19?”
In some schools of thought, the epidemic was inevitable — it is part of a larger plan from a higher being; or it is part of the natural order.
However, in a more realistic sense and based on what is already known about the origins of this outbreak (and its predecessor SARS), the answer might not be so simple.
US President Donald Trump has already decided that the “Chinese” are to blame, insisting that this “kung flu” be called the “Chinese virus” because of its country of origin.
This has shifted the blame to the people who fall under the umbrella term of “Chinese,” and some emboldened individuals have taken it upon themselves to mete out revenge against them.
In addition to racist comments and name-calling, in a Texas Sam’s Club, a man attacked an Asian-American family (originally from Myanmar) thinking they were Chinese.
The icing on top of this racism cake is the everlasting assumption that all Asians are the same, one that Asian-Americans fight tirelessly (and seemingly pointlessly) against.
To address this question of blame for COVID-19, begin with the premise of who is not to blame: Asian-Americans and Chinese. The assumption that Asian-Americans and the term Asian are synonymous is more nuanced than is shown at face value.
While many, including me, look stereotypically Asian, the idea of who we are runs deeper. Asian-American identities can run from a first-generation immigrant to several generations removed. Asian-Americans speak their parent’s native languages at different levels — some speak fluently, while some do not know it at all.
Asian-Americans also speak English at different fluency levels, depending on where they settled in the US and in what environment they grew up. Many feel like strangers when visiting the countries of their parents — I am always identified as “the American” by my dress, mannerisms and accent.
First, the assumption that Asian-Americans brought the virus from China to the US is faulty. It assumes that the only people from the US with a reason to travel to Asia are Asian-American.
Although it was unfortunate timing that the virus broke out during the biggest pan-Asian holiday of the year, most Asian-Americans do not travel to Asia for this celebration, due partly to it not being a public holiday in the US, and some bypass the celebration altogether.
Second, the assumption that all Asian-Americans come from this amorphous, synonymous region called Asia means that we all are the same culture and identity. The term “Asian” encompasses many identities that are political, ideological, ethnic and national.
Take for example myself: I am half Chinese and half Taiwanese, and even though my ethnicity is mostly Han, I identify as an American (South Carolinian, specifically) first, and Taiwanese second. This is the nuance missed in all assumptions that Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Thais, Singaporeans, etc, are more or less the same.
To them, how can Asians be different if they all have the same hair color, skin color and eye shape? The lesson here: Asian-Americans do not always equal Asians. They can be, but also do not have to be.
This leads to a second question: What about the Chinese people?
Did their dirty eating habits lead us to COVID-19? It is commonly accepted that the COVID-19 outbreak can be attributed to a wet market in Wuhan where exotic species are kept together in unsanitary conditions, making it a perfect breeding ground for novel viruses.
Virologists have suggested that the pangolin (used in parts of traditional Chinese medicine) is where COVID-19 started. University of Houston professor Peter Li, who specializes in East Asian politics, has come out with a statistic that only a small number of Chinese purchase these exotic animals; the vast majority of Chinese have never consumed any of these animals in their life. (I can vouch that my parents have never eaten bats, dogs, civet cats, pangolins, snakes or the like; it is simply not part of the mainstream cuisine.)
Li said that lobbying by a small group has led the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to prioritize their needs over the whole of the population by allowing these wild animal breeding grounds and exotic wet markets to flourish.
It is obvious that a majority of Chinese, especially those who lost family members to COVID-19 or were infected by it, were the victims of the CCP’s mismanagement of food safety, as well as oligarchical pandering toward those in the exotic animal business and those who sustain demand.
The CCP clearly has not learned its lessons from SARS — and thus it is obvious that the CCP, especially at the local level (with their poor, corrupt system of governance and wildlife policies) are one of the “who” to blame, not the general population.
The CCP is not the only one to blame. The US response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been abysmal, ineffective and too little, too late.
Comparatively, the US is behind in testing and the US federal government has shown no unified leadership. If the CCP is to blame for the original outbreak, then Trump’s administration is to blame for worsening the spread.
Individual states and their healthcare workers are left to struggle on their own while the president unhelpfully crowed that the US would be open by Easter.
Additionally, the WHO is partially to blame. Although the world relies heavily on their expertise, they have not been immune to political pressure where Taiwan, perhaps the only nation that has effectively handled this outbreak, has been left out of best practices sharing and the international forum.
After being left out of receiving advice from the WHO during the SARS outbreak, this nation built its own mechanisms to fight pandemics, and today, life remains almost normal, as restaurants are full, and children still go to school.
Chinese must pressure their government to learn from this deadly outbreak and the international community must pressure China to change its exotic foods policies and allow Taiwan to join the WHO. The international community must also implore the WHO to stop putting politics over people, and Americans must recognize who is to blame and vote those who lead poorly during times of crisis out of office.
Please stay safe, wash your hands and think before you blame.
Tiffany Wei, a native South Carolinian, is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science and Furman University. She is interested in international affairs, EU politics and East Asian politics.
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