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Politics

Қытайды кінәлау - отпен ойнау

Apr 14, 2020 Jim O'Neill

ЛОНДОН – COVID-19 дағдарысы күшейген сайын, Қытайдың ондағы рөлі туралы пікірталастар да қаптап жүр. Белгілі жайттарға сүйенетін болсақ, Қытайдың кейбір шенеуніктері Ухандағы коронавирус індетінің ашылуын болдырмауға тырысқан кезде, тіпті дабылды шығаруға тырысқан медицина қызметкерлерінің үнін өшірген кезде үлкен қателік жібергені анық. Қытай басшылары дағдарысты шешіп, алдағы уақыттағы жаңа қатердің алдын алу үшін тиісті шаралар қолданса да, осы қателіктерімен өмір сүруге мәжбүр болады.

Неліктен басқа елдер мәселені шешуге тырысудан гөрі Қытайдың алғашқы қателіктеріне сілтеме жасауға өздерін мүдделі деп санайтындығы түсініксіз. Көптеген үкіметтер үшін назарды Қытайға бұрып және оны кінәлау өздерінің дайын болмауын жасыруға тырықандай болып көрінеді. Сонымен бірге Дүниежүзілік денсаулық сақтау ұйымының, ең алдымен, АҚШ президенті Дональд Трамптың тарапынан Қытай үкіметін жауапқа тартпағаны үшін ұйымға шабуыл жасағандығы туралы сынның өсіп келе жатқандығы. Коронавирустың салдарынан ашылып қалған қосарланған денсаулық сақтау және экономикалық дағдарыстарға жан-жақты үйлестірілген іс-қимылды ұйымдастыру басты жаһандық басымдық болуы керек болған кезде бұл кінәлау ойыны жай ғана пайдасыз емес, сонымен қатар қауіпті.

Дүниежүзінде және ел деңгейінде біз қауіпсіз және тиімді вакцинаны жеделдету үшін қолымыздан келгеннің бәрін жасауымыз керек, сонымен бірге денсаулық сақтау дағдарысын бақылауда ұстауға қажетті диагностикалық және терапевтік құралдарды қолдануға ұжымдық күш-жігер жұмсау қажет. Пандемияға қарсы тұра алатын басқа бірде-бір жаһандық денсаулық сақтау ұйымы жоқ екенін ескере отырып, ДДСҰ белгілі бір саяси жетекшілерге ұнайды ма, жоқ па, қалай болғанда да жауапты шаралардың орталығында қалады.

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A Stress Test for Public Health Systems
Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images

Smart Development 1

A Stress Test for Public Health Systems

Jim O'Neill hopes the COVID-19 epidemic spurs greater long-term investment in preparedness around the world.
Whither the Chinese Consumer?
Billy H.C. Kwok/Getty Images

Economics 1

Whither the Chinese Consumer?

Jim O'Neill sees no substitute should the engine of the global economy for the past decade lose steam.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 19 Comments on this article

Edward Papier Apr 19, 2020

Mr. O'Neill is in no position to take this position since he has an inherent conflict of interest owing to his former and likely present association with Goldman Sachs, a firm that has in the past and likely in the future, made scores of millions of dollars from it's relationship with China. I suggest you read and listen to this interview with Kyle Bass, to get a less biased assessment of what should be done as a consequence of the unleashing of the CCP virus on the worlds' economies:

https://www.theepochtimes.com/kyle-bass-on-us-and-china-fallout-and-recovery-from-covid-19-and-hong-kongs-looming-banking-crisis_3316136.html
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simon noble Apr 19, 2020

There is a difference between a blame game and accountability. The importance of China's behavior is not "who started it?" but how it affects "let's find a cure and prevention".
O'Neill lacks credibility when he dismisses China's behavior as "mistakes". It was typical CCP behavior, concerned abate all to shield itself from accountability. While China did release some news on the "pneumonia" in December, it was actively suppressing the more important findings about the virus. Western media trumpets that China warned the world at the beginning of January. In fact it went little further than acknowledging a virus while insisting that it was only animal-to-human right up until January 20. This may seem minor but it cut across the seriousness of the news and slowed reactions by WHO and governments.
Accepting that the past is the past and we need to focus on the future, we should not ignore China's continued obstruction. While on individual levels there is good dialogue, China delayed letting international teams visit and still keeps them at arm's length. It released the makeup of the virus gene 9 days after it had been made for no obvious reason . China still refuses to give access to samples from early patients, seriously hampering the search for C-19's origins and infection path. Indeed China has been busy wiping records of what happened and quite possibly samples. Reports from the two research labs in Wuhan have been scrubbed to remove any trace of questions about their work and safety procedures (one researcher's records have been wiped and China implausibly claims he has led elsewhere for 4 years but is oddly unable to present proof).
O'Neill is right that we need cooperation but he is wrong to downplay China's behavior. Not only does it hamper the fight against C-19 but it sets the scene for a repeat down the road. Like some many Westerners, he is naive about just how far CCP will go to stay in power. A little reading about how Mao came to and maintained power might open his eyes.
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Martin Chibanda Apr 17, 2020

True - we ought not to be focused on China's initial attempt to cover-up the Coronovirus out-break - for now. :-/

We need to rather focus for now on solutions. We have to work together to lift humanity from the mud and mire of this particular challenge. After that however, should be a different matter - we must confront this. Not with an attitude of political game-play but with both sympathy and an expectation for accountability. This is no time to undermine The World Health Organisation (WHO) but a time to support them further, to empower them for the future. Agreed, the organisation is not 100% suited for its role but that is in the shortcomings of members and not the organisation itself.

What we need is the democratisation of global institutions that today neither have the teeth nor the bite necessary to call nations to account. We will need to determine what is suitable for nations to do and what needs to be executed on a global level. Nations will need to subjugate themselves to specialist institutions and empower them with the help necessary to tackle problems. WHO needs legitimacy to act authoritatively on global public health where needed. This needs to be without fear of political consequences for executing its objective mandate.

When nations are not a "law unto themselves" on issues that may “rock” the entire “boat” that we all call home, then we will have real progress. As stated by Gordon Brown, Erik Berglof and Jeremy Farrar on 7 April 2020, it is really "Now or Never for Global Leadership on COVID-19". When the actions of one far-flung nation affect the lives of everyone then we have a potential area of oversight for a global authority that transcends individual countries. We have the solution. Will we take the opportunity for the advance of our species?
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Chuck Drayton Apr 17, 2020

You're a true 'Friend of China' Jim. Always where, and I guess you always will be. I imagine the People's Daily would love to reprint this. Sure, there have been mistakes all round. But thankfully, we live in a society were information flows freely, we can criticise our leaders without being threatened or locked up for speaking the truth. Once we are through all this there must be a reckoning. The Chinese Communist Party lied and and covered up, and it continues to do so. It's corruption and dishonesty cost the world days if not weeks. It must be held accountable. If now now, after what it has inflicted on the world, then when?
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Simon Dimonstein Apr 16, 2020

". . . some Chinese officials made a major error in late December and early January, when they tried to prevent disclosures of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan."

"Error"? In other words, these officials didn't intend to prevent the disclosures?

Have the courage to call a spade a spade.
- Godfree Roberts Apr 20, 2020
  
  China did not try to to prevent disclosures of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in late December and early January. It just didn't. Here's the WHO timeline:
  
  Dec 26, 2019, Jixian Zhang, Head of Respiratory Medicine at Wuhan at Hubei Provincial Hospital, noticed a cluster of 4 anomalous cases of pneumonia, 3 within the same family, and reports them to the local CDC the next day.
  
  December 28, 2019. After Beijing pathologists confirm Dr. Zhang’s diagnosis, they report it to WHO.
  
  December 31, 2019 WHO reports this to the world.
  
  January 7, 2020 China identifies the virus, the first 2019-nCov (later renamed to SARS-CoV-2) and by
  
  January 13, 2020 China made the first test kits available.
  
  Dr Bruce Aylward, head of the Who International Mission said,“In the face of a previously unknown disease, China has taken one of the most ancient approaches for infectious disease control and rolled out probably the most ambitious, and I would say, agile and aggressive disease containment effort in history. China took old-fashioned measures, like the national approach to hand-washing, the mask-wearing, the social distancing, the universal temperature monitoring. But then very quickly, as it started to evolve, the response started to change . . . So they refined the strategy as they moved forward, and this is an important aspect as we look to how we might use this going forward. WHO has been here from the start of this crisis, an epidemic, working every single day with the government of China… WHO was here from the beginning and never left. What’s different about this mission is it’s complementing with a lot of other external experts.”
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edgardsilvadias Apr 16, 2020

So, is Jim Oneil calling for impunity to China's crime against humanity ?
- Martin Chibanda Apr 17, 2020
  
  Not sure we can call it a Crime Against Humanity right now until this gets a balanced analysis in the aftermath. The writer appears to be pointing to the wise notion that we should not let the "blame-game" obscure national efforts to tackle the virus.
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Godfree Roberts Apr 14, 2020

"Nobody denies that Chinese officials' initial effort to cover up the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan at the turn of the year was an appallingly misguided decision. "

As someone familiar with the early days of the outbreak, I for one deny that Chinese officials tried to cover up the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan–especially when we compare their performance with America's. Here's the timeline:

December 12 2019. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV a local outbreak of a pneumonia "its symptoms are mainly fever, with a number of patients having difficulty breathing. Eight patients had recovered and been discharged from the hospital as of Wednesday, and no deaths have been reported. ["Identification of a novel coronavirus causing severe pneumonia in humans: a descriptive study. Chinese Medical Journal. doi:10.1097/CM9.0000000000000722. PMID 32004165].

December 21–In CCDC Weekly (Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention) Chinese epidemiologists published an article stating that the first cluster of patients with "pneumonia of an unknown cause" occurred beginning 21 December 2019. Virus more prevalent in older adults. A Novel Coronavirus Genome Identified in a Cluster of Pneumonia Cases — Wuhan, China 2019−2020". China CDC Weekly. 2 (4): 61–62. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020 via weekly.chinacdc.cn.

Dec. 27, 2019 – Dr. Zhang Jixian, ICU doctor at Hubei Hospital reports to Wuhan Municipal Health Commission on pneumonia patients with an unknown cause..

Dec. 28, 2019– Three more patients arrive at the hospital, all related to Huanan Seafood Market.

Dec. 30, 2019 – Wuhan Municipal Health Committee issues notice of an unknown viral illness.

Dec. 31, 2019–Beijing receives virus genome results, informs WHO of Wuhan pneumonia with unknown cause. Wuhan announces virus on CCTV and CGTN.
- simon noble Apr 19, 2020
  
  Yes, that is then CCP line. But at the same time China already knew this was more than a "pneumonia". It was suppressing warnings from doctors and researchers through December. It delayed releasing the genome for 9 days. It insisted until January 20 that the infection was only animal to human when it had clear evidence to the contrary from mid- December or even earlier. It denied access to outside experts - Taiwan was blocked from access to the labs and hospitals on a visit on January 14 and a formal open invitation of sorts was not issued until February after international pressure.
  Even today China is blocking access to early patient samples for example.
  - Godfree Roberts Apr 20, 2020
    
    The WHO had resident officers there and that is their timeline.
    
    "It delayed releasing the genome for 9 days." Delayed? No country has ever released a genome under such conditions so rapidly. Not one.
    
    " It insisted until January 20 that the infection was only animal to human" China never, ever made such a claim.
    
    " It denied access to outside experts - Taiwan was blocked from access to the labs and hospitals on a visit". Taiwan is not outside. It's part of China according to Taiwan's and China's constitutions.
    - simon noble Apr 20, 2020
      
      Well that last paragraph confirms the CCP link. BTW it is in every account and official record that China only admitted the virus infected human to human on January 20. WHO followed shortly afterwards.
      The timeline you proudly publish ignore the much more deadly information that China possessed at the same time. It is a timeline of the minimum, not what it could have shared.
      The speed with the genome was nit its release but its mapping. That was impressive but it is worth remembering the 2 labs in Wuhan had been experimenting and researching very similar viruses from bats - the speed with which bats were identified as the original source is not coincidental.
      China knew and knows more. It prefers to protect the CCP rather than its population and the world
      - Godfree Roberts Apr 20, 2020
        
        If it is in every account and official record that China only admitted the virus infected human to human on January 20, why not provide a link to that statement in the WHO's official record?
        
        simon noble Apr 20, 2020
        
        https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/20/world/asia/coronavirus-china-symptoms.html
        That was just one of many. Google timelines on C-19. WHO didi not change its position until after the Chinese change. That means for a month or more no foreign country knew that people arriving from China could be carrying the virus. Taiwan figured it out late December but was rebuffed by China and WHO. It decided to treat C-19 as human to human regardless.
        
        Godfree Roberts Apr 20, 2020
        
        The link you provided led to this headline, China Confirms New Coronavirus Spreads From Humans to Humans. Jan 20.
        
        What is your point?
        
        simon noble Apr 21, 2020
        
        ing human to human on Jan 20. Or are you going to dispute the NYT (and every other media outlet)?
        
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