Smear against China’s medical supply an absurdity
WASHINGTON has been mounting its smear campaign against China to combat the wave of criticism of incompetence it faces over the coronavirus fight, like a drowning man clutching at a straw.
Following a flurry of false charges against China, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently set its targets on China’s medical supply trade and transparency of anti-COVID-19 polices, a politically motivated frame-up aiming to pass the virus back to Beijing amid its own failure.
China has never concealed its COVID19 outbreak from the international community.
Starting on January 3, several days after China’s local authorities detected cases of pneumonia of unknown cause,
China has been regularly informing the World Health Organization and other countries and regions including the United States about the outbreak and sharing with them its scientific research findings and experience.
The DHS’ accusation that China intentionally stockpiled medical supplies “by both increasing imports and decreasing exports” is ridiculous, because the report’s conclusion is based on the analysts’ ill intentions instead of facts.
Yahoo News quoted Daniel Hoffman, a retired senior intelligence officer with the Central Intelligence Agency, as saying that “it’s trade data. That’s not going to answer the question of China’s strategic intent,” while Nate Snyder, a former DHS counterterrorism official, said “I’m not sure what this product is trying to prove aside from finding convenient open sources to point the finger further at China.”
Production and export reduction in China is always expected in the first two months each year when the Lunar New Year holiday disrupts manufacturing to allow time for workers to travel home. This year, the dual pressure posed by the unexpected contagious disease outbreak and the extended holiday made China’s manufacturing, including production of medical equipment, hit a record low.
When China took unprecedented measures to lock down cities in order to prevent and control the outbreak at home, it experienced a brief under-supply of medical equipment.
China’s sacrifice bought precious time for other countries to fight the virus. As soon as its domestic production gradually resumed, China has been providing as much support to other countries in need within its capacity.
From March 1 to May 6, China exported anti-epidemic supplies to 194 countries and regions, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce, despite a huge domestic demand for medical supplies to guard against a virus rebound.
The buck-passing strategy by some US politicians cannot hide reality: It is Washington that squandered the time bought by China and undermined international efforts against COVID-19 by imposing export bans on medical supplies.
(Xinhua)