Covid-19 not the fault of Asian Americans – Trump
IMAY have missed it, but as of this writing (March 30), I have not heard or read any reaction from Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd to Foreign Secretary Teodoro “Tweeterboy” Locsin Jr.’s accusation that the Department of Health (DoH) is blocking the entry of Chinese doctors in coping with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
The reported that scurrilous Tweeterboy, in a tweet (what else?) since deleted, said:
“I asked Amb[assador] Huang [Xilian] to send us Chinese doctors. Interpreters are no problem: Chinese General Hospital and the Metropolitan Hospital — where Yuchengcos had equity, my daughter was born there — will readily supply them. But DoH is blocking their arrival. Don’t piss me off. Let them in.”
Maybe Tweeterboy had reason to get pissed. But does he have to warn a fellow Cabinet member or his department not to piss him off? Publicly too?!
Couldn’t he have just called up Duque by phone to tell him off? Or better still, to tell him nicely? Why does he have to embarrass him and his department publicly? He does not have the courage to tell Duque personally?
I have, in the past, commented on the impropriety of administration officials making pronouncements on official matters through Twitter and other social media vehicles. It just doesn’t seem right.
Shouldn’t there be a presidential directive prohibiting Cabinet officials from doing that?
President Digong, Sir?
Racial abuse of Asian Americans
In my last column, I wrote about the surge of white nationalism triggered by the insistence of United States President Donald Trump on calling Covid-19 the “Chinese virus.”
Incidents of racial abuse and discrimination against Asian Americans in the US have risen sharply.
In an obvious attempt to stem the adverse result of his insistence on calling Covid-19 the Chinese virus, Trump last week declared that “the spread of the novel coronavirus in the US is not the fault of Asian Americans.”
“It is very important that we totally protect our Asian-American community in the United States and all around the world… They are amazing people and the spreading of the virus…is NOT their fault in any way, shape or form. They are working closely with us to get rid of it. WE WILL PREVAIL TOGETHER!” he said.
Trump’s statement couldn’t have been more timely.
As early as last month, CNN reported several incidents of racist and xenophobic behavior of ignorant Americans against Asian Americans, which the mainstream media here seem to have missed or chose to ignore.
Following are excerpts from the CNN dispatch of February 2 titled “What’s spreading faster than coronavirus in the US? Racist assaults and ignorant attacks against Asians!”:
“In New York City, a man assaults a woman wearing a face mask, calling her a ‘diseased b***h.’
” On a Los Angeles subway, a man proclaims Chinese people are filthy and says ‘Every disease has ever come from China.’
“Rampant ignorance and misinformation about the novel coronavirus, experts say, has led to racist and xenophobic attacks against fellow Americans or anyone in the US who looks East Asian.
“‘With news of the coronavirus, we’ve seen an uptick in fear of people who look like this,’ said Rosalind Chou, a sociology professor at Georgia State University. ‘Real people are affected.’
“And the pain ranges from physical to verbal to financial.
“‘We, the Asian community, are under attack,’ said Tanny Jiraprapasuke, who was born and raised in Los Angeles.
“Here’s what’s happening across the country, the facts about coronavirus and what people can do if they witness attacks.
“Jiraprapasuke isn’t even Chinese. But that didn’t stop an irate passenger on the Los Angeles subway from singling her out and claiming Chinese people are putrid.
“Jiraprapasuke, who is Thai American, said the man ranted for about 10 minutes and was specifically looking and gesturing at her.
“She started recording the tirade as the man lectured another passenger.
“‘Every disease has ever came from China, homie. Everything comes from China because they’re f*****g disgusting,’ the man said.
“‘They can be so smart and be like, ‘Oh yeah, I developed this, I developed that.’ But like yeah, you can’t even wipe your a*s.’
“Jiraprapasuke went online and discovered many other people of Asian descent have been harassed or attacked because of misguided coronavirus fears.
“Many are using the global hashtag #JeNeSuisPasUnVirus — French for ‘I am not a virus.’
“‘It made me realize how big this is and that what happened to me definitely is not unique,’ Jiraprapasuke said. ‘What happened to me is not the worst that it can be.’
“On the other side of the country, a woman at a New York subway station was assaulted by a stranger February 2.
“The woman was wearing a face mask — something many East Asians have done long before the coronavirus outbreak, including for protection from pollution.
“One witness said she heard a man call the woman, who appeared Asian, a ‘diseased b***h.’”
Last week, I also wrote:
The Associated Press (AP) reported that in Brooklyn, New York, an Asian man in a subway car was yelled at and sprayed with an air freshener.
“In Los Angeles, a 16-year-old boy of Asian descent said other students had bullied him and accused him of carrying the virus,” AP added.
“Even before cities began shutting down all restaurants to stop the spread of the virus, Chinese restaurant owners were already experiencing steep declines in business because of racial stigma,” the news agency reported.
Of late, Filipino American school nurse Kyle Navarro in San Francisco was spat on and called a “gook” by a white man as he tried to deliver prescriptions to a family shut in by the stay-at-home order.
I also wrote in my last column about incidents of racial abuse against Filipinos in the United Kingdom.
Let us hope that Trump’s statement cited above, i.e., that “the spread of the novel coronavirus in the US is not the fault of Asian Americans” will take hold in the consciousness of racist Americans and Britons.
Good news
According to an Agence France Presse report last Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a telephone conversation with Trump, said China and the US should “unite to fight” Covid-19 and expressed the hope that the “US will take substantive actions to improve Sino-US relations.”
He also said the two countries should fight Covid-19 together and that Beijing “wishes to continue sharing all information and experience with the US.”
On the other hand, Trump said he had a “very good conversation” with Xi and that they discussed the pandemic “in great detail.”
“China has been through much and has developed a strong understanding of the virus. We are working closely together. Much respect,” he bared.
Let us hope that cooperation between the two countries in battling Covid-19 will ensue from their conversation.
Another bit of good news
The so-called Group of 20 (G20) nations, now headed by Saudi Arabia, held an emergency video conference last Thursday and pledged a “united front” in the fight against Covid-19. Xi and Trump joined the conference.
The group agreed to inject $5 trillion into the global economy to counter the pandemic amid forecasts of a deep recession.
The G20 members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. Spain is a permanent guest invitee.
The indifferent EU
A likely casualty of Covid-19 is the European Union.
After the seeming indifference displayed by the EU to the plight of some of its members, particularly Italy and Spain, some pundits believe that the dynamics within the union will change.
As UK journalist Damian Wilson said, “[T]he message from Brussels to Italy, Spain and other EU members is clear: in dealing with the pandemic and the thousands of dead citizens it leaves in its wake, you are on your own.”
The export beyond national borders of face masks and medical equipment was banned by some EU members, including Germany, according to Wilson.
Ironically, the perennial bogeymen of the West — China and Russia — were the ones who came to the aid of Italy, the worst hit among the EU members.
China has sent thousands of face masks and a planeload of medical experts and medical equipment that Rome desperately needs.
Russia, on the other hand, sent aid via military channels with the label “From Russia with love,” as if to ensure that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization doesn’t miss the irony.
From an internet friend:
1. You can’t see your ears without a mirror.
2. You can’t count your hair.
3. You can’t breathe through your nose with your tongue out.
4. You just tried No. 3.
6. When you did No. 3 you realized it is possible, only you looked like a dog.
7. You are smiling right now because you were fooled.
8. You skipped No. 5.
9. You just checked to see
No. 5. if there is