04-07-2020, 11:28 PM
I would blame the Chinese communist party, not China itself. Among the many victims of Covid-19 was a Chinese doctor who sounded the alarm about the virus and then was muzzled by local police and forced to apologize for "spreading rumors". He is not to blame for Covid's spread; he's a victim and a hero. Likewise, there are over 3,300 other Chinese who died due to Covid-19, and unless some of them deliberately spread the virus, they are victims, not people who are liable.
On the other hand, the Chinese Communist Party rewards loyalty and not raising problems. Thus, local Chinese officials had every incentive in their system to try to minimize what was going on and keep it quiet. So they minimized the pandemic, tried to keep it under wraps. But of course, what they found out (and what Trump has found out) is that the virus doesn't care, and, in fact, it's going to thrive in the absence of knowledge. It's going to keep on infecting people until you recognize there's a problem and put a stop to it. So yeah, the Chinese communist party failed its citizens, and I would love nothing more than for the Chinese people to be able to enjoy contested elections, freedom of speech, and freedom from repression (yeah, a pipe dream, to be sure, but one can always hope).
But here's the thing, the CCP is accountable to the Chinese people, but they are not my government. We do live in a liberal democracy, and so our elected officials are accountable to us. So, while I will never be able to vote for or against an President Xi in China (even if it were a Democracy), I will get a chance to hold this administration accountable, and I will do so in November (thankfully by mail). So, if you think this administration has done a great job in responding to the pandemic, by all means, November will be your chance to endorse its approach, and if you think the administration has handled it incompetently, November will be your chance to vote for someone else.
BC
On the other hand, the Chinese Communist Party rewards loyalty and not raising problems. Thus, local Chinese officials had every incentive in their system to try to minimize what was going on and keep it quiet. So they minimized the pandemic, tried to keep it under wraps. But of course, what they found out (and what Trump has found out) is that the virus doesn't care, and, in fact, it's going to thrive in the absence of knowledge. It's going to keep on infecting people until you recognize there's a problem and put a stop to it. So yeah, the Chinese communist party failed its citizens, and I would love nothing more than for the Chinese people to be able to enjoy contested elections, freedom of speech, and freedom from repression (yeah, a pipe dream, to be sure, but one can always hope).
But here's the thing, the CCP is accountable to the Chinese people, but they are not my government. We do live in a liberal democracy, and so our elected officials are accountable to us. So, while I will never be able to vote for or against an President Xi in China (even if it were a Democracy), I will get a chance to hold this administration accountable, and I will do so in November (thankfully by mail). So, if you think this administration has done a great job in responding to the pandemic, by all means, November will be your chance to endorse its approach, and if you think the administration has handled it incompetently, November will be your chance to vote for someone else.
BC