China’s lies allowed this to happen

The good news is that Shenzhen has become the first city in China to ban the sale of dogs and cats for human consumption. The move is yet another response to the outbreak of COVID-19, which is believed to have originated in horseshoe bats sold at “wet markets,” which sell an array of live and dead animals, including bats. Dogs and cats are not widely popular as household dishes, but have grown in popularity as pets, prompting the city of 12 million to explain that the ban “responds to the demand and spirit of human civilization.”

Figures suggest China has got the virus largely under control, five months after the first known case emerged. It reported just 90 new cases on Wednesday, about a 10th of the number of people who died that same day in Spain (950) and the United States (850). Beijing’s communist rulers have been moving to slowly relaunch the economy, which plunged dramatically as draconian measures were imposed to halt the virus’s spread. In addition to containment efforts, China’s leadership is now working eagerly to deflect blame for the outbreak and formulate alternative facts to the ones widely reported around the globe.

They may face a challenge in that China’s credibility, which was never great, has been shredded to a degree even its inventive propagandists may find difficult to overcome. Initially praised for its response to the outbreak, we now know Beijing did its best to hide and then play down the danger, arrest and punish those who tried to issue warnings, glorify media outlets that obediently parroted the government line and expel foreign journalists who couldn’t be frightened or controlled. Mere mention of the fact that the virus originated in Wuhan has been deemed racist and insulting, while officials plant conspiracy theories suggesting a dark plot by the U.S. military.

While such ideas may seem laughable, such is the clout China has achieved in world bodies that the World Health Organization (WHO) — the body many would expect to be at the forefront of the battle against the virus — has itself had its integrity brought into question. Bruce Aylward, a Canadian doctor appointed to lead a joint WHO-China mission on the virus, was subject to blistering attacks on social media for appearing to dodge a question on Taiwan, in deference to Beijing’s political sensibilities. The Hong Kong reporter who asked the question then came under attack from pro-China legislators, while the station she worked for was accused of breaching its obligation to promote China’s “one country, two systems” policy. While the world’s attention was focused elsewhere, China used the COVID-19 crisis to quietly arrest Hong Kong residents and demote the official in charge of the Hong Kong office, replacing him with a dedicated ally of President Xi Jinping.

It should be no surprise, then, that doubts are being cast on the reliability of Chinese data. Bloomberg reported this week that a classified U.S. intelligence document concluded that Beijing deliberately concealed the extent of the crisis, under-reporting both total cases and deaths, which plainly handicapped other countries in their understanding of the threat and their ability to prepare for it. No one will ever know how many additional deaths resulted from the determination of China’s leadership to protect itself at the expense of others.

The regime is now engaged in efforts to dilute the damage. It obligingly sent a shipment of protective gear to Canada, after Ottawa sent it tonnes of medical supplies earlier in the crisis. A report that China also lifted its year-old ban on Canadian canola exports proved to be false, but the regime scored a public relations coup when it allowed a plane owned by the New England Patriots to land and load up more than a million masks, for distribution to health-care workers.

No one should be naive enough to believe such efforts reflect any real change in Beijing, either in outlook or approach. If anything, the pandemic has heightened the determination of its unelected rulers to protect their powers and toughen their controls. Xi and his accomplices can’t help but have been alarmed at the willingness of ordinary Chinese people to voice open criticism of the government’s handling of the situation. When Xi was scheduled to visit the centre of the outbreak in March, a local official suggested it was “necessary to carry out gratitude education among the people of the whole city” to properly display their appreciation, which produced a fierce online backlash.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberals have been justifiably criticized for their determination to turn a blind eye to Beijing’s thuggish nature, while eagerly pursuing commercial ties. It would be simple madness to revive that approach once COVID-19 has been contained. It may be difficult to rebuild a supply chain that has made Canada, along with other Western countries, dangerously dependent on China for essential medical supplies and equipment, but it simply must happen. China is not a reliable partner and cannot be accorded the trust necessary of any country from which Canadians might one day find themselves needing help.

All future relations should be filtered through a screen that puts Canadian safety and security first and treats Chinese assurances with acute levels of wariness and doubt.

BEIJING DID ITS BEST TO HIDE AND THEN PLAY DOWN THE DANGER.