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People who brand China a 'dictatorship' are jealous that Beijing beat the pandemic, embassy claims This ‘dictatorship’ just beat pandemic & you’re just JEALOUS, Chinese embassy in France tells the West
(about 2 hours later)
Commentators refusing to give China credit for containing the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan and citing 'Asian democracies' as better examples simply envy Beijing's efficiency, the Chinese embassy in France has said. Western media and governments refusing to give China credit for battling Covid-19 in Wuhan simply envy its efficiency, the Chinese embassy in France said as it took a jab at how the West was coping with the pandemic.
China, from which the coronavirus spread throughout the world, has largely succeeded in containing the disease, according to official updates. Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, has recorded no new cases in a week and has been lifting the restrictions that helped quash the pandemic. Naysayers “envy the efficiency of our political system and hate the inability of their own nations to perform as well. So they try to stick the ‘dictatorship’ label on China,” the embassy argued in a provocative essay published over the weekend.
Beijing sees the outcome as a success story and finds it irritating when commentators in countries currently overwhelmed by the virus insist they have nothing to learn from the Chinese experience. At least that's what's suggested in an article published this week by the Chinese embassy in France, where the Covid-19 death toll may soon exceed China's. These very same detractors instead praise the “Asian democracies” such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore, the article noted, adding that China’s quarantine measures were more drastic because it has a much larger population and faced a bigger challenge in fighting the coronavirus.
Negative commenters "envy the efficiency of our political system and hate the inability of their own nations to perform as well. So they try to stick the 'dictatorship' label on China," the embassy said. Either way, the Asian countries have been more successful in containing the pandemic than Western nations, and the virus ultimately doesn’t care whether it is ravaging a “democracy” or an “autocracy,” argued the embassy, in the essay titled “Political systems and the fight against the epidemic: The great dilemma.”
Instead, detractors praise 'Asian democracies' like South Korea, Japan and Singapore, which have been more successful than Western nations in containing the pandemic. However, China, which resorted to more drastic quarantine measures than those countries, has a much bigger population. So its task in fighting the disease was far more difficult, the article argued. Ultimately, the virus doesn't care whether it is ravaging a 'democracy' or an 'autocracy.' China officially claims to have largely succeeded in containing Covid-19, which was first recorded in its Hubei province in December. Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, has recorded no new cases in a week and has been lifting the restrictions that helped quash the pandemic – again, according to the official information.
With the threat of coronavirus diminishing at home, Beijing has been busy building goodwill and sharing expertise with other nations affected by the pandemic, sending doctors and aid supplies to those in need. Beijing sees the outcome as a success story and finds it irritating when commentators in countries currently overwhelmed by the virus – such as France and the US – insist they have nothing to learn from the Chinese experience. With the threat of coronavirus diminishing at home, China has been busy building goodwill and sharing expertise with other nations affected by the pandemic, sending doctors and aid supplies to those in need.
This 'mask diplomacy,' as some commentators call it, has drawn quite a lot of negative feedback on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Critics say the help comes with political strings attached, undermines European solidarity, and damages targeted nations' relations with the United States. China has also embarked on a war of words with Western detractors – most notably US President Donald Trump, who at one point called the pathogen the “Chinese virus.” One of its Foreign Ministry spokespeople went so far as to suggest that the virus is American in origin and may have been brought to Wuhan by a US military delegation last fall – an accusation Trump bristled at, and official Beijing has not disavowed.
There is also a popular narrative claiming that China has massively misreported the human cost of containing the pandemic. The latest item to fuel it is the reported delivery of about 2,500 urns to a funeral home in Wuhan.  This kind of ill will has also infected China’s aid efforts, with many Western pundits accusing “mask diplomacy” of coming with potential strings attached, undermining European solidarity, and damaging European relations with the US.
Links to the urns story inevitably popped up in comments to the Chinese embassy's Twitter feed, after it published excerpts from the article. A number of US officials have accused Beijing of flat-out lying about coronavirus statistics, with one senator citing reports of 2,500 additional cremation urns recently delivered to a funeral home in Wuhan as evidence. Links to the story inevitably popped up in responses to the Chinese embassy in France, after it tweeted excerpts from its article.
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