Recommended Reads: The Corona Crisis--China, New York, And The World
Two highly recommended articles today.
The first is by Italian journalist Giulio Meotti, who writes for the "centrist" Il Foglio : The West Needs to Wake Up to China's Duplicity . It's fairly long but, IMO, very good. What I'll provide here is the summary at the beginning:
* In an article in Xinhua, one of the Chinese Communist Party's mouthpieces, Beijing threatened to halt pharmaceutical exports, after which America would be "plunged into the mighty sea of coronavirus... — Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health, Council on Foreign Relations, Twitter, March 4, 2020.
* China's leaders are probably hoping that you cannot challenge a powerhouse that is selling you most of your vital medications.
* "Hidden behind declarations of solidarity, China plans to buy out our troubled companies and infrastructure" — Bild, March 19, 2020.
* Italy, a country hit hard by China's coronavirus pandemic, is now at the center of a strategic Chinese propaganda campaign. Beijing has sent doctors and supplies to Italy and is doing the same all over Europe. In Italy you can see posters saying, "Go, China!" China is trying to buy our silence and complicity. Sadly, that is already taking place.
* China is not helping at this point out of "solidarity". The Chinese regime is now seeking to portray itself as the world's savior. Beijing, at the beginning of the pandemic, did not care about the lives of even its own people: it was busy censoring the news.
* "The West is so tolerant, passive, accommodating and naive towards Beijing. Westerners... are seduced like an old man in front of a young girl.... Europe shows all its weakness. It does not realize that the Chinese offensive threatens its freedom and values". — Liao Yiwu, Chinese writer exiled in Berlin, Le Point International, April 6, 2019.
Here's a nice item that's related. In addition to all the placebo testing kits China has sent to Europe, Netherlands recalls 'defective' masks bought from China :
China is sending millions of masks and medical supplies to countries across the world to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. Countries that are receiving China's supplies include Serbia, Liberia, France, Philippines, Czech Republic.
Thanks for the 'help', China!
Closer to home, Joel Kotkin reflects on The End of New York: Will the pandemic push America’s greatest city over the edge? It's a long and very interesting article that chronicles the decline of New York City, as it's super wealthy have pushed the middle class out, leaving a monstrous gap between an ueber-upper class and the majority who live on the brink of poverty. And that ueber-upper class is starting to flee the sinking ship. The COVID19 pandemic is exposing it all. Lots of reflections on America in general.