{UAH} THE VIRUS CAME FROM CHINA, IT IS NOT RACISM BUT GOD DAMN FACTS

The coronavirus came from China. That's not racism; it's a fact

by Steven Cheung

 | March 24, 2020 12:00 AM

Many American journalists and Democratic elected officials have unwittingly become top-tier surrogates of the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda machine recently. They follow party officials in feigning outrage at those who use language that accurately describes where the virus first exploded onto the global scene.

As more facts are revealed about China’s attempts to cover up the true threat of the virus, Chinese government officials have used the red herring of racism to deflect blame away from themselves. They have also spread conspiracy theories and unfounded claims to sow doubt about where the virus first emerged and to implicate the Trump administration and America instead.

News conglomerates such as CNN, MSNBC, NBC News, CBS News, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and others have outrageously parroted the Chinese government’s faux outrage, co-opting their claim that using “Chinese” or “Wuhan” to describe the origin of the virus’ outbreak is racist.

Elected officials such as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Grace Meng, and Rep. Ted Lieu have also used this tragedy to exploit fear and uncertainty by levying these same ridiculous charges of racism in order to score political cheap shots.

Of course, despite all of the media figures and Democratic officials bizarrely claiming otherwise, they know full well that viruses are routinely named after their place of origin. Examples of this include Zika, Ebola, the West Nile virus, the Spanish flu, and countless others.

Indeed, the same media outlets often had no problem initially using “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus” in their headlines, stories, and news copy. As it became increasingly clear the Chinese government had actually intensified the outbreak and put lives in danger, Chinese officials began objecting to these phrases so as to deflect from their own culpability. Unsurprisingly, American media outlets bowed to Chinese pressure and made editorial decisions to frame the Chinese government as a victim.

The coronavirus has infected more than 81,000 individuals in China and has resulted in over 3,200 deaths, more than in any other country, yet the Chinese government has sought to shift the blame to the United States. The sheer magnitude of its ineptitude has given rise to incredulous statements and claims by both Chinese government officials and medical officials, either placing blame on the U.S. military or resorting to calling all of America racist for simply telling the truth.

To be clear, the U.S. military is not responsible for unleashing this terrible virus upon the world. That distinction belongs to China and its leaders. When a prominent Chinese doctor sought to sound the alarm on the virus and disclose information on public forums online, he was arrested, threatened, and punished shortly before dying from the infection. More recently, China has expelled U.S. journalists courageously trying to report on China’s role in the global pandemic.

This makes the racism charge by their American-based colleagues even more confounding. There are U.S. journalists in China bravely resisting increasing Chinese pressure, yet reporters safe and free stateside are mindlessly regurgitating Chinese Communist Party propaganda, apparently as an excuse to label President Trump and his supporters as racists.

Meanwhile, the ban on travel from China, which the media also disparaged at the time as racist, has proven prescient. Lives were saved, and it helped slow the spread of the virus. Trump and his administration have continued to make the correct judgment calls, from declaring a national emergency to developing important private-public partnerships, to meet the needs of the public.

The pandemic will require a comprehensive approach from the federal government, state and local authorities, medical providers, and the public. The media and elected officials can make their jobs much easier if they would only stop parroting Chinese propaganda that seeks to foment unrest and erode our ability to meet this challenge.

Actual racism exists in the U.S. and around the world. But smearing someone as a racist or a xenophobe for simply telling the truth about the Chinese Wuhan coronavirus simply cheapens and diminishes the battle against that actual racism and xenophobia.

Steven Cheung is the founder of Solgence LLC and previously served as special assistant to the president and director of strategic response at the White House and on the Donald J. Trump presidential campaign in 2016.

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