onsdag 13. mai 2020

Fighting the Pandemic at the Cost of Human Rights

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, CCP has set the propaganda machine in motion to demonstrate at home and abroad that the deadly virus is being defeated only thanks to China’s “great leadership” and “the superior socialist system.” State-controlled media continue to boast about the efficiency and speed the country’s leaders reacted to the epidemic, building huge hospitals “in days and with high efficiency rare in the world” and dispatching tens of thousands of medical personnel to Wuhan in record times, “relying on its strong social mobilization and organizational capability.” The news rarely missed an opportunity to mention that other countries were struggling with shortages of hospital beds, personnel, and medical supplies.

In April, the official media ran a series of articles, “Xi Jinping’s Art of Fighting the Epidemic War,” singing praises to the country’s president on his leadership combating coronavirus. But at what price? Judging from testimonies of people who were part of the “great power defeating the epidemic,” the alleged “victory” came at the cost of severe violations of citizen’s fundamental human rights.