The West’s perceptions of China hold up a mirror to its own preoccupations. More nuanced analysis is much-needed
In laying the blame for the magnitude of the pandemic in the US squarely at the door of the White House, Garrett called Trump “the most incompetent, foolhardy buffoon imaginable”.
John Fitzgerald, emeritus professor in the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University in Melbourne and a well-known historian of China’s diaspora, expresses the view that the Chinese officials have specifically contrasted their response — primed to be quick, decisive and effective — with that of the Americans. The Chinese insist that the numbers demonstrate that its response was responsible and timeous and hence, unlike the US catastrophe, a model for the whole world to emulate. Second, if the Chinese pushback is seen as unapologetic, it is because that is exactly what it is.
Ever since Deng Xiaopeng, reputedly the architect of modern China, coined the phrase “socialism with Chinese characteristics” in 1984, China has been waiting patiently for an opportunity to demonstrate that she is a fitting and responsible regional, if not global, leader.Finally, by the same token, China is unable to admit criticism of its management of the outbreak when its great rival, the US, is fighting a losing battle with the virus, mass unemployment and political infighting.
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