COVID19 Pandemic: Govt worried about growing anti-Chinese backlash
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Roshan Amiri
- . May 8, 2020
- . Update: May 8, 2020 10:12 am
According to a report circulated among the top leadership in China, warns against the growing anti-China sentiment, globally, and advises the command to prepare for the worst-case scenario. The worst-case scenario, according to the report, could be an armed confrontation between China and the US.
The document shared among leaders in April adds that the anti-China sentiment following the Coronavirus pandemic is running high, is at its highest since the Tiananmen Square crisis in 1989.
The report was published by the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), a think tank affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security. The Ministry is responsible for gathering intelligence for the state.
There is a growing demand among countries like the US and EU states that China should allow an independent inquiry into coronavirus cases in Wuhan.
The US President has already tasked his intelligence team to do fact-finding on the origin of the deadly virus. The US president is reported to be exploring different options that can be used against China. Many private companies and states want to sue China over the bungling of facts about COVID-19 infection.
While there are many conspiracy angles and speculation about the spread of the virus, there are some who warn against a possible Cold War with China.The US administration, according to the report, is trying to “undercut” the Communist Party of China. The document concludes that the US views China’s rise as an economic and national security threat.
The report compares the current anti-China sentiment to be the same as the backlash that followed the 1989 Tiananmen Square movement. The Chinese administration had used disproportionate force to quell the popular student’s movement demanding economic and political reforms. Thousands of students had staged a protest at the Square in April and May, and by June, the government ordered troops to bring the rally to an end. Various estimates suggest that thousands of young students were killed in the ensuing violence.There was worldwide condemnation by western countries against the blatant use of force against unarmed students.
In the spate of recent anti-China sentiment, China diplomacy has two counter strategies in place. Firstly, Chinese diplomats are countering the allegations floated against China on Twitter and other social media platforms. China is also playing a “humanitarian” diplomacy card by sending medical equipment and aid to many countries, including the US.
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