Friends, I'm ticked! Scientists, journalists, academics, politicians, intelligence experts -- everyone, seemingly, is coming increasingly to the conclusion that COVID-19 originated in a lab in China, and that it was accidentally released. China denies it, of course, but it's also been burying the truth from the start and obstructing meaningful, independent investigations. What riles me, though, is not that the Chicoms are lousy liars and mass killers, but that the response of the West to these revelations has been so utterly weak. In fact, Western leaders have exerted themselves more to shield and protect China than they have to hold China accountable. That's the subject of my latest article. Here goes:
Thank You, China! May We Have Another?
Since late 2019, the COVID pandemic has killed at least 4 million people worldwide. It has shaved a year and a half off of U.S. life expectancy. It has necessitated, or at least excused, the expenditure of trillions of dollars, the accumulation of massive amounts of public debt, and the simultaneous destruction of large portions of the private sector economy. It has kept family and friends apart, even at poignant moments like births, marriages, and deaths. It has upended life as we know it, in short, when it didn't snuff that life out altogether.
For all these reasons, you might think that the genesis of the virus, and the moral and legal responsibility for its spread, would be at the very top of every political, social, and economic leader's agenda. Surely, if ever there was a mystery worth solving, a wrong worth righting, it is the question of how COVID came to be, and who, if anyone, inflicted the dreaded virus on the world.
As it happens, with the recent release of the Addendum to “The Origins of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic” Report from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, we are closer than ever to knowing where COVID came from, despite concerted efforts by authorities in China (and America!) to hide the truth. The report concludes that COVID originated in a lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It was developed by scientists as part of “gain of function” research that intentionally made the disease more infectious. And it was released accidentally by Chinese “experts” who were as reckless in their methodology as they were sloppy in their hygiene.
This is the same conclusion to which an increasing number of medical and scientific experts, intelligence analysts, academics, journalists, and politicians are bowing – and yet no one in a position of authority seems remotely inclined to do anything about it. Extraordinary!
No serious sanctions against China have been levied or proposed. No ambassadors have been recalled. No treaties or billion-dollar business deals have been abrogated. No Chinese influence operations in Western countries have been curtailed. Nothing. Nada. Zip.
This all seems shocking, but, on the other hand, the powers-that-be have for years shown a remarkable level of disinterest in China's misdeeds, writ large – a blind spot about three thousand miles wide, in fact.
We are told, for instance, that climate change represents an “existential threat” to humankind and the Earth's ecosystem, but the world's biggest emitter of carbon, by far, gets a pass, even as those emissions climb inexorably. In fact, China gets fulsomely complimented on its “green” rhetoric, as though posturing alone could “save the planet”.
China meanwhile commits gross human rights violations in Hong Kong, and by many accounts commits genocide against its Uyghur population, and the world says “Tut tut!” and carries on buying Chinese-made iPhones and smart TVs.
China threatens its neighbors, especially Taiwan, and systematically appropriates large portions of the South China Sea. It spies on Western countries and corporations; it hacks our computer systems; it even infiltrates the inner circles of our political leaders...and the best that these leaders can do by way of a response is to rebuke (toothlessly) the Chinese communist government and declare that we in the West will remain watchful, but hopeful – always hopeful – that relations will improve...
The truth, of course, is that the Western political, cultural, and economic elite is so thoroughly compromised by its own ties with China that it cannot bear to bite the hand that feeds it. Moreover, our leaders know that the Chinese exercise so much overt and covert power worldwide that any politician or opinion leader who directly confronts the PRC – like Donald Trump – can expect a chorus of voices to condemn him (or her), and to label his (or her) anti-Chinese rhetoric “racist” and “xenophobic”. And that is the least that might befall an iconoclast who dared to divert from the party line.
What is the only approved narrative re: China? Why, it's that China is a land of wonders, a wellspring of limitless wealth, a fount of ancient wisdom, a far-sighted and visionary place where the technologies and policies of the future are incubated, a rising superpower destined to displace the tired old USA, and, above all (though this part is usually said in a whisper), the ultimate paymaster of hack journalists, up-and-coming academics, and toadying politicians everywhere.
It makes all the sense in the world to mollify such a country. It makes no sense at all to challenge or confront it.
And here we are. By its negligence, the Chinese regime has facilitated the deaths of millions of people worldwide, and more than 600,000 Americans. It has brought our economies to a standstill and buried us under a mountain of debt. It has disrupted our daily lives and our livelihoods. The Chicoms have done all this, while suggesting – with a straight face – that the disease actually came from America, and was an invention of the U.S. military!
The refusal of the U.S. government, and of all Western governments, to stand up for themselves, and for the millions of COVID victims who we have already lost, by confronting China and taking real action to punish the regime and to curtail the one thing that it values in its relationship with the West – trade – is the ultimate condemnation of the fecklessness and incompetence of our leadership class. It is a clear sign that we value electronic doodads more than we value our own self-respect, and more even than we value our own lives.
It is pathetic.
It is shameful.
It is the most bizarre and surreal instance of civilizational suicide history has ever witnessed.
Sadly, it will also embolden the Chinese to do even worse, while our own leaders troll new, even more frightful depths in obsequiousness and treachery.
Why would they sink even lower? Because, lest we forget, our elite has found ways to profit from its own humiliation, and from the wave of terror and death that has washed over us in the last seventeen months. For our “betters”, COVID has in many ways been not a curse, but a blessing. Their power and authority wax ever higher, thanks to our soaring anxieties (and our short attention spans).
They may have good reason, therefore, to exclaim “Thank you, China! May we have another?”
Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480/106.9.
Here it is at Townhall:
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In other news, here's a much more extensive analysis of the disturbing new trend involving the "debanking" of conservatives. You've been warned!
https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/get-ready-for-the-no-buy-list
Twitter is now working with Reuters and the AP to snuff out "misinformation". And the definition of "misinformation"? Information that offends Democrats, of course!
https://www.newsmax.com/us/twitter-media-misintormation-conservatives/2021/08/02/id/1030879/
This one comes as no surprise: California is a sucky place to live, especially if you don't happen to be rich. It's not quite sucky enough, however, for housing prices to tumble... That will be the next shoe to drop. Someday it will.
Finally, businesses are starting to respond to calls from woke politicians like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who advises them to require their employees and/or customers to be vaccinated. It's a fairly modest trend thus far. Will it spread? Will it survive the legal smell test? We'll see.
https://www.breitbart.com/health/2021/08/02/equinox-soulcycle-proof-vaccination/
Nick, you know McCaul's "addendum" is merely an expression of opinion. It is NOT a conclusion of the committee. I am disappointed that you are trying to pass off his opinion as if it is fact or it is an official Congressional opinion.
ReplyDeleteBe better.
Fair enough, Rod. I didn't intend to mislead anyone. I see that you're not refuting the substance of my argument, however. Do you deny that COVID came from the Wuhan lab?
ReplyDeleteNick, I think it is more likely to have originated in the lab than not, though the zoonosis theory can't be ruled out. Then the question becomes, did a naturally occurring COVID jump from a bat to a lab worker and then spread, or was a genetically enhanced (i.e., the product of gain-of-function research) virus accidentally leaked out of the lab, then infected a bat who infected a human? We clearly don't have enough evidence.
ReplyDeleteI tend to lean to a scenario where the lab was doing gain-of-function research (the lab had engaged in such research before). That does not mean the NIH grant approved by Fauci to EcoHealth Alliance provided any funds to gain-of-function research. Rather, it just means such research was going on at the lab, and, somehow, the enhanced virus escaped the lab. But, that's all speculation on my part, just like McCaul's addendum was speculation on his part.
Dr.Waddy from Jack: I have often striven in this setting to express my perception that China's guiding international principle is to prevent, ever, the degradation CHINA historicallh experienced at the will of the West and Japan. Last month , President Xi said it clearly: "China will never be bullied again!" . Our conceptions of reasonable defense against bullying of China may clash with Chinese conception of the same. I do not think for one moment we purpose 19th century presumptuous intrusion into very China itself. But China may see it differently. Then again, if they do seek consummate world domination, for their national security OR the perceived benefits of such (after all,no nation has ever achieved it) we must judge what we see of this from a view well informed by those who know China. The implications are world existential.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insights, Rod. Aren't there some scientists who claim that the genetic structure of COVID-19 betrays its artificiality? Above my paygrade, of course. What seals the deal for me is: what are the chances that a super-virus would first appear in the very city where the Chinese do their super-virus research...by coincidence? I mean, I wasn't born yesterday, China!
ReplyDeleteJack, I think it's pretty clear that SOME Chinese view any form of criticism as "bullying". Among those who see things this way may indeed be President Xi. Nevertheless, any responsible Western leader has a responsibility to "speak truth to power" and call out the Chinese when they're in the wrong.
Dr.Waddy from Jack: The West MAY have invited Nemesis upon itself in the 19th century when it toyed with a country as great as China.Chinese perceptions of history are best known by the Chinese and those with a studied and profound understanding of China, today. They may still think their security requires what we see as aggression. Revenge? I think they are far too practical and appreciative of the benefits of their newfound prosperity to purpose that. Have we taken reasonable measures to assure China we mean no harm to their national integrity and security? Taiwan is a key issue. They see it as theirs and wrongly denied them . We must and so must a Japan recently expressive of possible military support for Taiwan (and by strong implication, itself).Is it well advised to intefere with Chinese determination to reincorporate Taiwan? Should they attempt to do so, would it be proof of unacceptable aggression requiring a WWIII risking response?
ReplyDeleteJack, it would be interesting to know how conscious the Chinese people -- the common folk -- are of China's 19th century abasement, or how fragile they think their country's newfound power and status might be. And what are the prevailing attitudes to the West? These are unfortunately almost impossible questions to answer, given that we're talking about an authoritarian system that doesn't tolerate dissent.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: Good points, very good points. Certainly the vast majority has no memory of the years of presumptuous Western and Japanese invasion.They may accept the story that the communist years were necessitated thus.They do know from material experience that recent times have been very much better.
ReplyDeletepanese
Dr.Waddy from Jack: Let me first say I am no China expert .I have a BA in Asian Studies with a concentration on China and a semester at a Chinese University in Singapore. But from that background alone and some knowledge of recent developments I opine. I THINK popular Chinese opinion as it were has been directed to the Chinese interior ( " The Middle Kingdom") and that despite modern worldwide communication it may still cleave to that direction. Inherent in that is a PERHAPS STILL dominant tendency to leave foreign affairs, both in comprension and direction, to a still distant central government ( not so under Maoism but maybe now restored to near its traditional function(?!).
ReplyDelete