Historically, for all man-made disasters, governments and corporations have compensated in billions of dollars because they consider it their moral responsibility. But why is China going scot-free?
The Covid19 pandemic has by end 2020 infected 84 million people and killed nearly 2 million people.
It is estimated that the world economy is set back by at least 16 trillion dollars. Almost all countries have been pushed into deep recession. The trauma cannot be easily forgotten as we live from day to day with reminders of millions rendered homeless and jobless, markets and economies shaken up, political and economic power facing an unpredictable future.
Meanwhile, China reports a 4.9 % growth in the third Quarter.
Is there any hope of China paying up?
Remember, at the height of the pandemic across the globe a backlash was building against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for unleashing the greatest global crisis of this century and many countries wanted to sue China for damages.
European powers like Germany, France, the UK, and the US launched scathing criticism at China after findings had surfaced that China may have covered up the outbreak.
Germany’s largest tabloid newspaper, Bild joined this attack by drawing up an itemized invoice for Euro 149 billion (130 billion pounds).
Japanese government proposed to allot 220 billion yen ($2 billion) to firms for shifting production back to Japan and 23.5 billion yen to companies seeking to move manufacturing base to other countries
But this was brushed aside by China since they saw many countries lacked the will to fight and did not want to rock the boat. Australia, after announcing its desire for an inquiry into the virus, was warned that it risked long-term damage to its trading partnership with China, which takes a third of Australia’s exports.
The government of China talks with impunity because it knows it is protected by the doctrine of sovereign immunity, and it can’t be held accountable for its crimes and misdemeanors.
China also turned the narrative around steering it from a story of incompetence and failure into one of victory over COVID19 and gloating over countries that depended on it for medical aid, demanding gratitude with economic threats.
Reversing the Trend
Many countries that were up in arms against China are now making a beeline for the Chinese vaccine. Brazil made a deal with China for 90 million Dollars. Other countries include Bahrain, UAE, Morocco, Turkey and Indonesia.
It has become increasingly clear that Germany’s economic entanglement with China has become so extensive that reversing it is no longer a realistic option. Since October, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been pushing for the European Union to agree to a major trade deal with China. The deal was quietly sealed in the final weeks of 2020, potentially hampering joint U.S.-European efforts to address CCP challenges.
The business partnership between Germany and communist China has also extended to vaccines. China announced on December 16 that it was sourcing 100 million vaccines from Germany’s BioNTech.
The U.K. government’s deepening relationships with the CCP is alarming. Until recently, Downing Street was lauding itself as ‘China’s best partner in the West’ and was committed to intensifying its proclaimed ‘golden era’ of relations with Beijing,”
So who is to blame if China can get away with inflicting such a huge calamity on humanity? It is so apparent that the liberal democracies are self sabotaging and becoming victims of an authoritarian regime challenging their survival.
Suren Rao an Advertising professional writes blogs on various topics ranging from health and spirituality to technology and sport