Posted on 03/21/2020 7:03:40 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
United States President Donald Trump's recent labeling of the novel coronavirus pneumonia pandemic as originating from a "Chinese virus" has triggered widespread backlash from the international community.
Officials and commentators worldwide used words like "racist" and "xenophobic" to describe the term and said it is part of Washington's attempt to shift blame to China for its delayed, inefficient response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Instead of terms such as "COVID-19" or "coronavirus", the US top leader used the term in both his Wednesday and Thursday news conferences at the White House as well as in some recent tweets, and he publicly rejected reporters' questions about whether the term was racist.
The World Health Organization gave the name COVID-19 to novel coronavirus pneumonia on Feb 11, when WHO's chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said it was both for scientific purposes and also to "avoid a number of different stigmatizing or other forms of confusing names".
US Democrats have slammed Trump and other Republicans for using "Chinese" or "Wuhan" when referring to the virus in public statements and social media posts.
Former US vice-president Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned Trump's comments and urged him to "take responsibility" for his actions.
"Stop the xenophobic fearmongering. Be honest. Take responsibility. Do your job," he wrote on Twitter.
Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton also tweeted on Wednesday that Trump was attempting to distract people from his administration's slow response to the pandemic.
"The president is turning to racist rhetoric to distract from his failures to take the coronavirus seriously early on, make tests widely available and adequately prepare the country for a period of crisis," she tweeted. "Don't fall for it. Don't let your friends and family fall for it."
The distinguished American economist Paul Krugman said in his New York Times column that the coronavirus outbreak should probably be referred to as the "Trump pandemic" as the US response to the virus has been "catastrophically slow and inadequate".
Racism and blaming other people have been the defining features Trump have used during his presidency, he added.
Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, said on Thursday that viruses don't have a nationality and don't care about borders.
"COVID-19 is not a Chinese virus, as the Spanish flu was not Spanish," he tweeted. "We all face a massive threat that requires global cooperation and all of us working hand in hand."
Sadiq Khan, mayor of London, said on Thursday: "COVID-19 is COVID-19." He said trying to link a nation to the illness "is disgraceful."
The term used by Trump is "the sort of language which leads to incitement and hatred toward people of Chinese origin", Khan said when answering questions from members of the London Assembly about the pandemic.
"We are a city which celebrates our diversity and we think it is a strength, not a weakness. It's really important that we do not fall into the trap of some to use this virus as an excuse to denigrate, demean and humiliate people," the mayor added.
Pascal Lamy, former director-general of the World Trade Organization, said that the COVID-19 crisis is testing first and foremost the resilience of national governance, as the capacity to fight the virus lies in the quality of health systems and in collective disciplines such as social distancing.
But there is also a second order international dimension in cooperation to provide medical equipment, liquidity for economies or signals for concerted action, Lamy said.
"In this respect, I very much agree with the WHO that 'my country first' or 'blame the foreigners' political proclamations are dangerously counterproductive, including when they target China," he said.
Canadian experts and officials also stressed that using the term that Trump did does not help bring the whole world together to respond to this common threat. Only through global collaboration can the war against the virus eventually be won.
Thomas Bernes, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, said that the terms being used by Trump are "highly regrettable and inappropriate".
"This is a global threat that requires global cooperation to defeat the virus and respond to the global economic challenge," said Bernes. "Trump's go-it-alone approach can only fail, and his language can only exacerbate problems and make global cooperation more difficult."
Toronto Councilor Jim Karygiannis said it is time for the US president to acknowledge that the term is racist and apologize for using it.
"The president continually has demonstrated that he reacts before he thinks. In this case, he is using China as a scapegoat for his country not being ready to fight the COVID-19 threat," said Karygiannis.
Leading media have also criticized the use of the term.
Amanda Walker, US correspondent of Sky News, wrote on Thursday that Trump "has recently and very purposefully ramped up his reference to 'Chinese virus'".
She noted that "there has been another recent change in Mr Trump's tone" as Trump is now "taking this public health crisis seriously" and he "accepted it could cause a recession and its grip on America could last well into the summer, which is just a couple of months from November's election.
"If millions of Americans die, it will be on his watch," Walker wrote. She said using an insulting term "is a way of deflecting blame".
The New York Times said on Thursday that Trump is "ignoring a growing chorus of criticism that it is racist and anti-Chinese".
China has to go.
Note the words ‘absolutely confirmed’ in my question.... I don’t know if the Kansas farm connection is the ‘dominant theory’ behind the origins of the Spanish flu but there certainly is a school of thought that it also came from China....
I never heard what happened to Diane Fienstein’s Chinese staff...are they still at her service?
US Democrats have slammed Trump and other Republicans for using “Chinese” or “Wuhan” when referring to the virus in public statements and social media posts......
LOL it’s based on Demogrphics not racist. Idiots.
Isn’t the “China Daily” a Chinese Communist Party publication? For a much more accurate perspective I read “The Epoch Times” an anti Communist newspaper, very conservative and pro Trump, owned I believe by Chinese in exile.
Please pardon my profanity, but I am so fucking sick and tired of the disgusting media and asshat politicians and elitists attacking the President at every damned turn. This fucking virus is from China. I partly believe that the Chinese created this virus as a biological weapon in response to the Hong Kong protests, the tariffs and economic crackdown by the President to stop the Chinese from dumping their crappy products into our markets, and a means for China to dominate the world. The Chinese have no regard for human life. They could give a flying fuck if ten million of their citizens died or not. And the leftists are gleefully watching our economy collapse, and millions of workers and businesses shut down and put everyone into a panic.
I pray every day, several times a day, for President Trump that God keeps him safe from the evil that we now see in full force right in front of our faces.
Again, sorry for cursing, but I am so fed up!!!
US Democrats have slammed Trump and other Republicans for using “Chinese” or “Wuhan” when referring to the virus in public statements and social media posts......
LOL it’s based on Demogrphics not racist. Idiots.
Looks like they have the Chinese Virus from Wuhan China weapons lab.
Just trying to keep up... is crying “RUSSIAN COLLUSION” racist now too?
Sooooooo... lemmegetthistraight....
A virus that originated in CHINA...
A virus that either “escaped” or was intentionally released from a CHINESE laboratory....
A virus that was probably created by CHINESE biologists....
Can’t be called “China Virus”... because it offends the already-inclined-to-be-offended....
Yeahokayright.... we’ll comply with that, sure.
Chinavirus Chinavirus Chinavirus Chinavirus.
or
ChiComVirus ChiComvirus ChiComvirus...
Either works for me. I’ll use them both from now on.
Exclusively when referring to it.
Once again a cultural thing is the problem.
So...Chink flu is absolutely out of the question?
Tracking the Coronavirus:
How Crowded Asian Cities Tackle an Epidemic (Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan) New York Times ^ | March 17 2020 | Hanna Beech Posted on 3/17/2020, 10:16:30 PM by rintintin
Two hours. That’s all the time medical teams in Singapore are given to uncover the first details of how patients contracted the coronavirus and which people they might infect.
The NYS (slimes) expectedly in reporting did not go into what Singapore was doing which is not responding to the CComWuVi (Chinese Communist Hunan Virus) by shutdowns wrecking its economy by closing shops and these postings do and explain what and how Singapore and other cities are doing which is well worth a look.
post #7
edited, My sister in law lives in Singapore. This is for real. They have people assigned at entrances with hand held infra-red heat guns. She said she was scanned 5 times just today. Anyone who displays a high body temp are isolated and asked who they have been with? How long they felt like this? If they ever coughed in public ?. The shelves in stores are full and there is no panic. From what she says. This is a very effective and organized way to handle the crisis.
. Trump I love him Maybe we could learn a lot from Singapore.
7 posted on 3/17/2020, 10:40:11 PM by Bommer
Here’s another detailed posting from another site http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3825906/posts#40
Jackson MI Nose swab tests http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3824844/posts
Trump should call it the Communist Chinese Virus.
#Commiekungflu...
At least we finally know why the Nazi’s Bombed Pearl Harbor. FDR mentioned the German Measles in a Speech.
Hey, PRC...
EFF YOU!!!
On the naming of the "Spanish Flu"...WWI was in full swing with censorship by both sides regarding the devastation wreaked in the trenches and military camps...NOTHING was allowed to be mentioned regarding and epidemic. Spain remained neutral without censorship and thus the first published reports of the influenza epidemic appeared in the Spanish press and voila! Spanish flu.
Among Woodrow Wilson's long list or terrible decisions was one in which he kowtowed to Franco-British demands to ship in more troops while knowing of the fast moving epidemic. Packed into troop ships so crowded that troops slept on the decks, influenza ripped through like a chain saw...poor lads served up as a useless sacrifice in a war in which the US shoulf hsve never been involved.
2020 is, after all, the Year of the Rat.
The last Rat Year was 2008.
The Rat won the race by cheating, that’s why it is first.
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