Seeing now the President of America on Twitter has quoted the novel coronavirus as the Chinese Virus with millions of followers and tightly followed-up smearing news trying to turn the public opinion with, once again, the familiar usual acts of xenophobia and scapegoating psychology tactics employed in a traditional hawkish racial attack. It is time for the world to hear the Chinese perspectives and come to our senses!
BACKDROP OF THE OUTBREAK
In traditional Chinese lunar calendar, 2020 is the year of Rat. Being the first and foremost zodiac character heading its eleven other symbolic animal figures, Year of Rat signifies a brand new start of the Chinese zodiac yearly cycle and represents wisdom with great strength of survival in traditional Chinese beliefs. Out of 56 ethnic minorities, a grand majority of Chinese citizens with Han nationality celebrate the Spring Festival in a way similar to those enjoying Christmas, Corban Festival or Jewish Day by different cultures worldwide.
Image 1: Chinese family celebrates the Spring Festival
Starting from January 10 to February 2 2020, almost 1.35 billion individuals and 452-million households in China welcome the most momentous and expected holiday of the year [1]. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, domestic rural migrant labor force totaled 174 million, in which there are a total of 20 million poor laborers have left hometown village for work in a report released by the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security [2].
Among these migrants, some are married couples taking separate blue collar jobs in different cities to make ends meet, causing a total number of 34.48 million school-aged children to migrate along with single parent living in poor conditions or to become left-behind village kids cared by elderly grandparents or other relatives.
Image 2: Millions of rural migrants leaving families behind
Speaking statistically, it is not difficult to grasp the significance of the Spring Festival holiday at a grand national level. These few days are the only time out of the whole year to be a good-enough excuse for millions of rural migrants being freed from endless laborious jobs and for millions of rural households to a longingly yearned-for family reunions and hard-earned personal restoration.
On January 10 this year, the annual Spring Festival migration rush officially kicked off, marking the start of the world's largest annual population migration of 3 billion travelers to make their journey home in just two weeks [3]. Including the virus worst-hit cities of Hubei, there were estimated eight large traditional labor exporting provinces, expected to be the main migration inflow destinations before the holiday.
During fluxes of the biggest migrating population in one of the world’s most populated countries, all means of public transportation including high-speed trains, flights, fleets and motorways become packed with domestic migrants making home-returning trips for days or even for weeks. As iMedia Consultancy explained [4], China's railways are expected to handle 413 million passenger trips during the 2020 Spring Festival travel rush, up 8.3 percent from 2018.
Image 3: Rural Labour Migration
OUTLINE OF THE OUTBREAK
As all businesses and industries across nation preparing for the best sales period during last week of 2019, signs of later widely spread Coronavirus (2019-nCov) has originally been found as cases of pneumonia unknown etiology (unknown cause) and reported to the WHO China Country Office while announcing to the general public. A week later, as holiday transportation rush hit its highest point, the Chinese authorities identified this pneumonia unknown etiology (unknown cause) as a brand new type of coronavirus on January 7 2020. Another week later on 11 and January 12, more detailed information was reported by the National Health Commission of China including the geographical location where patient was found with exposures in one seafood market in Wuhan City. On the very same day (a week and half since its first report) China has shared genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus for countries to use in developing specific diagnostic kit. (reference [5]: WHO Situation Report 1) On January 20, the Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is found to be transmissible human-to-human confirmed by specialist from the Chinese CDC, all is strongly recommended to put on face masks and avoid crowds as the initial self-protection method advised by authorities. By the next day on January 21, Chinese manufacturers of face masks started working overtime to produce and meet public demand.
The Chinese authorities had to decide for a possible nation-wide outbreak during the celebrating period with uncountable fluxes of migrants agglomerating and potentially carrying or spreading. As number of deaths caused by the novel coronavirus continued to grow at an alarming rate exponentially, on January 23, city of Wuhan was in lockdown under travelling ban and road restrictions. By January 25, a total of 30 provinces responded by declaring the Major public Health Emergencies Level-One overnight, covering a total population of more than 1.3 billion. By 29th, 170,000 medical workers volunteered to reinforce teams and hospitals in Hubei on the front lines.(reference [6]: WHO situation report 2-10)
On February 4, Wuhan Vulcan Mountain Hospital, designed and built in 10 days, officially began to treat the confirmed pneumonia patients with new coronavirus infection, and the first batch of patients were admitted at 9:00 on the same day. By February 12, while diagnosed cases reached its peaking point inside Hubei, some areas outside started to see a drop in the number of people diagnosed. (reference [7]: WHO situation report 11-23) Since then, number of cases indicated a declining tendency inside China but with growing diagnosis in non-China areas across the world.
Image 4: Real time Data on the Outbreak worldwide updated at daily basis from Baidu.com
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS HAPPENING INSIDE CHINA?
Apparently, the whole nation’s holiday plan has been ruined and no one is in mood for celebration over the Spring Festival as situation becomes more severe. Every Chinese citizen with past experience of SARS reacts under consensus and cooperation regainning awareness of just how bad it could get if the outbreak is not contained and further spread continues. There are more than 330 medical teams and more than 40,000 medical personnels who were selected from all over the country to support Hubei, including more than 15,000 professionals in the departments of critical care, infectious diseases and respiratory diseases [8].
Keeping up with appropriate level of media exposure, every Chinese is able to obtain the lastest statistical information and global news through digital media just about anywhere and on any mobile devices used. The official real-time big data reporting system is hosted by the biggest domestic search engine Baidu and becomes available online by January 21.
Inside each of the municipalities initiating Major Public Health Emergencies Level-I Response, all public transportation are banned inbound and outbound to Hubei. Every residential area is managed by property companies. Relevant general personal information of each residing individual such as members of households, occupation, outbound or inbound domestic trips taken by each member of family is collectively questionnaired through digital media scanning QR codes and fill in online-questionnaire. There is curfew for residents to follow and proof of residence is issued to monitor entrances and exits of residing members. Such information is collected, assessed and reported by civil service staff appointed to gates of every community and each person entering must cooperate to take non-contact temperature control. All public areas are disinfected by property management team on a daily basis. Each individual is asked to wear facial mask enroute and upon refusal one could be fined or face legal actions. All of these data are collectively submitted to the local sub-district offices as the first level of administrative organization in China.
“Early detection, early reporting, early isolation, early treatment, responsible for themselves, responsible for others has become a national consensus; travel agencies across the country have suspended group tours, entertainment venues have closed, and Chinese New Year movies have been canceled. Regional isolation, limited migration, and extended holidays inevitably impede economic activity.
Quoting Dr. Bruce Aylward, the Assistant Director-General of the WHO, spoke about his close contact with the people of Wuhan which has hugely inspired him during his 36 hours of outbreak inspection in Wuhan. “No matter who I spoke to, whether it was the translator, whether it was someone at the train station, it was always the same message -- ‘this is our duty, this is what we need to do’ and that’s a very hard thing to do a month into this. ”
Image 5: Dr. Bruce Aylward speaking about his trip to Wuhan at WHO Press Conference
WANTING TO LIVE DOES NOT JUSTIFY ATTACKS
Without knowing the underlying mentality, scale and seriousness of the situation during the time of the outbreak inside China, timely decisions and firm actions taken by the Chinese authorities which are commonly agreed and followed by each citizen in China can be seen and misunderstood as “extreme” measurements that “violates” individual rights by other nations. Unfortunately, reports and news of such from mainstream western naming the novel coronavirus as the “Wuhan Virus” [9] is an unavoidable outcome of a long existed ignorance and deliberate interpretation completely out of context. Offensive and genuinely hurtful articles published by the Wall Street Journal and news reports from the Fox News demanding an apology from China have continued to push the psychology of xenophobia and scapegoating even deeper in their general public minds. It is the long-lasting scapegoating strategy put on show to avoid answering the core issues by equalizing and encouraging xenophobia with survival at all costs.
Image 6: Western Media smearing and creating xenophobia through publications
By definition xenophobia means fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign. “Societies facing novel pathogens have often engaged in scapegoating of marginalized populations, especially when the infective source can be linked to a distant place and the disease associated with a racially distinct “foreign”peoples.” In a Time article written by Sonia Shah helped to explain the potential psychological motivations caused by xenophobia behind racial attacks [10].
While China battling with the virus and settling disputes, any Asian-looking person might feel for the first time in their life so close to brutal or even fatal racial attacks coated and excused by “hysteria” and “xenophobia” in some parts of the world. In the meantime, when the globe is in urgent need of mutual respect and support to face the outbreak, mainstream western media is still casting and keeping strong at wrong course of stirring up xenophobia and harmful hysteria by spreading further “blame-shame”. The fear of pandemic spreads around the world and it seems the easiest and usual way to direct such force of general public’s disappointment onto China while the global origin and patient zero are still unclear as data of novel coronavirus of other countries remain opaque.
It is wrong for the public to be “missing the point” and “letting of steam” through those vicious attack out of human nature for survival and xenophobic hysteria. It is NOT alright for some media to be irresponsible and do the same through propaganda as they have comparably more opportunities to become more aware, NOT more ignorant.
Image 7: news like this continues to happen as a result of misguide by some media
TIME TO COME TO OUR SENSES
“When panic is fueled by psychological attacks, there is more danger from the fear than there is from the problem.” as Uriel considers the overriding problem of “fear” over “pandemic” [11].
Apathetic and insensitive towards the general suffering of a nation in crisis while misguiding the general public onto “blame and bully” can neither by justified by “survival instinct” nor as “a want to live”. Any cases that overstep boundaries in forms of discriminating and humiliating indifferntly to innocent Chinese people remain ruthless and uncalled for. Such action is playing with fire.
Unfortunately, in this battle threatening all human regardless of nationalities or races, some parts of the world have turned to inadvisable psychology of xenophobia and scapegoating misled by usual media image smear and projection of lopsided views, which in some cases become abreact outrage of violent and vicious racial attacks against anyone with an Asian-looking face.
If this psychology of scapegoating and panic over race do not halt, this pandemic may just be another life-costing smudge where political propaganda through means of media have caused the general public’s panic to pandemic onto a whole new level of “racial hatred”.
This must stop immediately.
Not afraid of a bank-run on medical resources, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention emphasizes on facial masks as the most effective protection method to avoid being infected at day one. China has offered countless assistants to countries in need and delayed the virus from outbreak internationally at least by two months that allowed golden time to prepare and counteract for other countries. As original patient zero remaining unknown, the worst thing to do in times of a pandemic outbreak is to take apparently wrong attitude of “protecting selves by blaming or attacking others”. Such doing will only give way to unnecessary misjudgment and hot-headed rush to the most incorrect conclusion. Instead of acting against the virus, this state of mind with its highest opportunity costs wrongly gives rise to scapegoating and xenophobia instead of doing ourselves the greatest favour of all time--helping others. Those incidents surely present the new low point of humanitarian society in which once prides itself with racial diversity.
No justification of “bullying you because you wore a mask and looked like a Chinese” can be done. If so, then there is no lines nor borders of humanity we cannot cross. Under times like this, what is more pressing is for us to realize that the world’s future is and will continue to be a shared one for all humans regardless of nationalities or races.
LIVING IN A SHARED HUMAN FUTURE
The novel coronavirus is a major threat not just to the health and lives of the Chinese people but as a great challenge to global public health security as a whole. This time, China is at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic. In persepctive, around 20% of the world’s population has cooperated and carried out individual responsibilities under the most resolute and thorough measures voluntarily to delay the virus from spreading. Chinese medical and scientific researchers are racing against the clock to improve the diagnosis and treatment measures, continuously improve the cure rate and reduce the disease death rate, using China's speed to buy valuable time for the global pandemic preparedness.
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres [12] commented on actions taken so far by China has made great sacrifices to fight against the outbreak, effectively preventing its spread, and has made great contributions to mankind. He believes “it is time of all countries must make every effort to respect the principle of non-discrimination, to stop scapegoating, to respect human rights and to do everything possible to halt the spread of disease. The history of civilization is a struggle against disease”.
Image 8: UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres speaking at conference
World Health Organization director-general Tan Desai also pointed out that China's strong measures have both controlled the spread of the epidemic in China and stopped it from spreading to other countries, not only to protect the Chinese people, but also to protect the people of the world.
Image 9: WHO director-general Tan Desai speaking at press conference
In spite of the misled xenophobic conducts and racial attacks happening around in some parts of the world, there are valuable moral and material support given by the international community to China in time of crisis and need, as State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressed and thanked international support in the 56th Munich Security Conference on Febuary 15.
This outbreak has once again given a clear path to ensure survival and development -- in the era of globalization, countries are entwined with a much shared human future. Turning a tragic event such as this and embracing empathy and equality, is the only sound direction for the general development and progress of the entire human society China is and will continue to act as one with determination to save as many and control the spread. But it is never enough for one member of the team to fight alone against the “villain” without team spirit, joint effort and shared stances from other team players in a global virus outbreak. As number of cases outside of China continues to increase speedily due to the ineffective and back-seat approach taken by some authorities, it is irresponsible and naive to leave a whole nation’s health security to chances.
Image 10: State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaking at conference
Let’s end in the words of Dr. Bruce Aylward, the Assistant Director-General, “Because what I saw all was a tremendous sense of responsibility and of duty to protect their families, their communities,even the world from this disease. It was inspiring. I left with such a deep admiration for the people of Wuhan and for Chinese society in general. The real heroes of this response are those people sitting home in skyscrapers and apartment buildings for weeks on end. And the few that I did meet they said, ‘we are playing our role, we are doing our part’, and that is so powerful, the world just owed such huge debt to the people of Wuhan. I just want to people of Wuhan to know that the world knows that, and we are sharing that story.”
Because they deserve to be heard.
Writer: Han Li, researcher of ICSF at CUC.
Reference:
1:National Health and Family Planning Commission,Chinese family development report, 2014
2:https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1598519476074610208&wfr=spider&for=pc Ministry of agriculture and rural affairs of China, press conference released data, 2018
3:http://www.ctcnn.com/html/2020-01-10/11392682.html Ctrip group, 2020 Spring Festival travel trend report, 2020
3:https://www.iimedia.cn/c400/63572.html iMedia Consultancy, the China's Spring Festival Travel Data Monitoring Report, 2019
5-7:https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/ WHO Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) SITUATION REPORT 1-23,,2020
8:https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1658749820537375001&wfr=spider&for=pc Speech by H.E. Wang Yi State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs ofThe People's Republic of China at the 56th Munich Security Conference, 2020
9:https://twnews.us/us-news/anger-over-the-wuhan-virus-is-sparking-pushback-against-censorship-in-china-it-won-t-last CNN, Anger over the Wuhan virus is sparking pushback against censorship in China,2019
10:https://news.yahoo.com/pandemic-xenophobia-scapegoating-051559696.html Sonia Shah, The Pandemic of Xenophobia and Scapegoating,2020
11:http://hardnoxandfriends.com/2020/02/25/when-fear-of-pandemic-overrides-the-problem-people-suffer-a-different-kind-of-trauma/ Uriel, When fear of pandemic overrides the problem – people suffer a different kind of trauma,2020
12:https://www.chinadailyhk.com/article/121340, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press briefing at the UN Headquarters in New York City on Feb 4, 2020