In the wake of the pandemic, for the last three months or more, China-bashing has become a pastime worldwide. If closely observed, all such negative portrayal of China, it's government, it's people emanate from the West and lapped up throughout the world.
We have heard about conspiracy theories that blamed the release and spread of the virus due to some alleged biological weapons tested by China gone wrong. We found many people ascribing to the disease to the entire Chinese race for their food habits.
Then once the Chinese government started an all-out mobilization of forces to tackle the menace head-on, we started hearing complaints about how draconian the steps were. We were told that not only forced quarantine but thousands of people are being summarily exterminated by the Chinese authorities to stop the spread of the disease. Some people pointed out how cruel the Chinese were and the others nodded their head recounting their 'Cultural Revolution' and 'Population control' measures.
Now China seems to have managed to somehow control the disease spreading within their own boundaries, while it rages on, in the western nations. But here too, the China bashers have an excuse. We are now being subjected to the theory that this pandemic was an attempt by China to disrupt the global economy and buy assets at a throwaway price. Back to square one.
I for one refuse to believe in this sort of China-bashing or anti-China propaganda. Not that I know much about China or its people. Nor do I have any special reasons to defend or justify the government of China. I generally go by the basics and simple logic. My idea is that a country with a population of 140 million and such an old civilization can't be treated this way with sweeping generalizations or assumptions. It's true that the Chinese are seen as reticent and secretive by all other nations. But that is more due to the language barrier and their culture of not sharing information. This is nothing new. Barring few notable exceptions, historically China has always remained an elusive place unlike India or other Southeast Asian countries.
People are blaming China with secondhand information gathered from western sources. Most probably these are planted in the media by vested interests, more likely to be intelligence agencies and dirty tricks departments of various western countries. Falling for such propaganda will be a big mistake.
Anyway, China can't be blamed for everything. They may be blamed for some things, even many things, depending on how much you really know about them or what is the source of your secondhand information. At least I don't buy the line of argument that is being bandied about their complicity in the COVID-19 pandemic. If you do, it could be your naive understanding. Think again.
We have heard about conspiracy theories that blamed the release and spread of the virus due to some alleged biological weapons tested by China gone wrong. We found many people ascribing to the disease to the entire Chinese race for their food habits.
Then once the Chinese government started an all-out mobilization of forces to tackle the menace head-on, we started hearing complaints about how draconian the steps were. We were told that not only forced quarantine but thousands of people are being summarily exterminated by the Chinese authorities to stop the spread of the disease. Some people pointed out how cruel the Chinese were and the others nodded their head recounting their 'Cultural Revolution' and 'Population control' measures.
Now China seems to have managed to somehow control the disease spreading within their own boundaries, while it rages on, in the western nations. But here too, the China bashers have an excuse. We are now being subjected to the theory that this pandemic was an attempt by China to disrupt the global economy and buy assets at a throwaway price. Back to square one.
I for one refuse to believe in this sort of China-bashing or anti-China propaganda. Not that I know much about China or its people. Nor do I have any special reasons to defend or justify the government of China. I generally go by the basics and simple logic. My idea is that a country with a population of 140 million and such an old civilization can't be treated this way with sweeping generalizations or assumptions. It's true that the Chinese are seen as reticent and secretive by all other nations. But that is more due to the language barrier and their culture of not sharing information. This is nothing new. Barring few notable exceptions, historically China has always remained an elusive place unlike India or other Southeast Asian countries.
People are blaming China with secondhand information gathered from western sources. Most probably these are planted in the media by vested interests, more likely to be intelligence agencies and dirty tricks departments of various western countries. Falling for such propaganda will be a big mistake.
Anyway, China can't be blamed for everything. They may be blamed for some things, even many things, depending on how much you really know about them or what is the source of your secondhand information. At least I don't buy the line of argument that is being bandied about their complicity in the COVID-19 pandemic. If you do, it could be your naive understanding. Think again.
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