New Survey Highlights Effectiveness of Anti-China COVID Rhetoric
A new YouGov survey reveals the real effects that Anti-China rhetoric is
having on shaping public perception and the reality of COVID-19's impact on
the world.
by Alan Macleod
August 24th, 2020
By Alan Macleod
Anew survey published today highlights the vast gaps between public
perception and the reality of the impact of COVID-19 on the world. The
survey, conducted by YouGov across eight Western nations - the United
States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden and
Denmark - asked around 10,000 participants to rank the impact that the
coronavirus has had on a number of countries. Respondents correctly placed
the United States among those countries worst affected by the pandemic;
nearly six million Americans have tested positive for the virus, and over
180,000 people have lost their lives, with Brazil being the only other
country to reach 100,000 deaths.
However, over ten percent of Europeans falsely stated that China was the
worst hit by COVID-19. Americans were even further off the mark, with 28
percent thinking the same, and over half believing that China was in the top
two states hardest hit by the virus. China actually appears at only number
168 in Worldometers' list of countries ranked by COVID-19 deaths per capita
and number 199 on COVID-19 infections per capita, with all those lower being
poorer countries that have done nothing like the testing Beijing has.
Indeed, judging by deaths per capita, China has fared better than Western
COVID-19 poster child New Zealand, a country showered with praise for its
exceptional response to the coronavirus, Prime Minister Jacinta Arden being
christened "Saint Jacinta" by the Financial Times. There have been precious
few articles praising Beijing for its handling of the novel virus, which it
first detected just before the new year. In fact, pundits and politicians
alike have excoriated Xi Jinping and his government's response as callous,
ineffectual, or even near-genocidal, to the point where 54 percent of
Americans believe that China should be made to pay reparations to the U.S.
and the world.
Flourish logoA Flourish chart
China's impressive COVID-19 figures could be explained by undercounting,
either deliberate or accidental. This is certainly the opinion of most of
the West, as large majorities in each of the eight countries polled respond
that Beijing is doing so, and deliberately. Only nine percent of Americans,
for instance, said that Chinese figures were "probably about right." Western
public skepticism clashes strongly with the international medical community,
who have effusively praised China's "commitment to transparency." "I have
never seen the scale and commitment of an epidemic response at this level in
terms of all of government involvement," said Dr. Michael Ryan, the World
Health Organization's Chief Executive Director for Health Emergencies,
praising the organization of the Chinese state. "The challenge is great, but
the response has been massive and the Chinese government deserve huge credit
for that response and for the transparency in which they have dealt with
this." The editor's of The Lancet, perhaps the most prestigious medical
journal in the world, also praised China's "remarkable" commitment, "working
diligently and effectively" to eradicate the virus. However, they warned,
their transparency and effectiveness are being "threatened by rumors and
misinformation" emanating from the United States. While some have criticized
Chinese authorities for not acting sooner and allowing the pandemic to
escape from Wuhan, by January 23, they had locked down most of Hubei
province, roughly the size and population of the United Kingdom, after only
17 people had died.
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In comparison, only 42 percent of Americans thought the U.S. was
undercounting, with 27 percent responding that they were overreporting
deaths and infections. This is despite President Trump publicly stating that
lowering the figures would help him politically, his administration
subsequently taking control of the official numbers from the CDC, and almost
immediately seeing a drop in the infection rate. (Europeans polled were far
more skeptical of official U.S. figures than Americans were).
Much of the great gap in public opinion and the empirical data might be
explained by the anti-China rhetoric emanating from the White House, where
officials have insisted on calling COVID-19 the "Wuhan Flu," the "China
Virus" or similar names aimed to deflect public anger towards Beijing. Thus,
when images of a huge, crowded pool party in a reopened Wuhan surfaced, they
went viral online, causing outrage around the world. Yet Wuhan residents
were unrepentant, telling the world that the strict anti-virus measures they
endured for months have paid off, and there is a lesson to be learned.
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Both major parties have also ramped up the hostile rhetoric towards Beijing,
with Trump and Biden accusing each other of being soft on China. With an
ever larger U.S. military presence in the South China Sea, blaming China
could turn to bombing China unless we are careful.
