China theories are quite ludicrous

IRENE Davidson admits she agrees with Donald Trump that coronavirus is a “Chinese disease” and goes on to add that she wouldn’t be surprised if coronavirus was a “well-planned move by China to buy up large international businesses at rockbottom prices due to failing economies.”

The idea of coronavirus as a ‘Chinese disease’ has already led to an increase in racially motivated attacks against those of Chinese origins. The use of the phrase is thoughtless and steeped in ignorance. It is reminiscent of Nazi propaganda depicting the Jews as a plague sweeping the world.

And as with all propaganda, the idea is to deflect blame onto the ‘other’. Donald Trump’s approach to the coronavirus has been the worst in the world, and the USA has the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths. It is hardly surprising he wants to blame someone else.

The notion of the Chinese (government) using the coronavirus in a “well-planned move” to make business gains is quite ludicrous. How do you make a virus that avoids your own business interests across the globe? Wouldn’t it be easier to manipulate the markets and use economics as a weapon, like the US and British do?

The only way you can agree with Donald Trump is if you believe in a simplistic cartoonstrip version of reality. The Oriental stereotype of Ming the Merciless leading the evil dynastic hordes to world domination! Imagining Boris or Donald as Flash Gordon should explode the fantasy of such thinking. Tony Bennett, Ashington