[FpUser]

"The CPC knew about this virus for over a month before they took any action to contain it"

You are trying to blame politicos for being who they are. Other governments behaved exactly the same. They knew very well what is coming and still kept flow of goods and people. They are just as guilty in ignoring pandemic.

Sure they did not arrest their people for "spreading panic". But that is human rights issue and is totally separate from the subject. Nobody's saying that China is the beacon of freedoms.

But sure it feels much better when one can ignore their own screw ups and pin the blame on somebody else.

[alisonatwork]

Perhaps it's not clear, but i live in China and experience the result of these "politicos being who they are" first hand. This virus could and should have been stopped before it got out of Hubei. The CPC have no excuse for their ineptitude when they already went through a comparable outbreak in 2003 with SARS.

We have evidence that acting earlier was an option, because the party chief of Qianjiang (a city in Hubei) unilaterally decided to do just that. He went against the prevailing wisdom from Beijing and quarantined all coronavirus patients in that city back on January 17 - ten days after Xi Jinping claims he was on top of things and over a week before the party ordered other cities in Hubei (including the epicenter of Wuhan) to lockdown. Qianjiang is now the only city in Hubei that has lifted their lockdown, and infections have been an order of magnitude less than other cities in the province.

And that's only one case that Caixin was allowed to report on. If we had a free press here maybe we'd hear more about the abject failure of party leadership to follow the advice of specialists, but unfortunately we do not.

However, that is beside the point. The point is, this outbreak was grossly mismanaged by the CPC, and now the entire world is suffering. No matter how many lavish gifts wealthy party members bestow upon the rest of the world, it's important that we do not forget how this crisis started and who was responsible for it. Otherwise, how will we learn to avoid the next one?

[FpUser]

"it's important that we do not forget how this crisis started and who was responsible for it. Otherwise, how will we learn to avoid the next one?"

Here is the divine revelation - it had started in China. How will it help you when it starts in China or elsewhere next time?

And again you've completely ignored the fact that the rest of the world was happily ignoring all dangers and kept borders opened for goods and people without any testing.

As for starting first: I guess we could blame first human for all our problems. Guilty party is found, the case closed shut

[alisonatwork]

Please try to understand where i am coming from. I live in China and i am concerned that our political elite, who just six weeks ago were being widely blamed for causing this outbreak, have silenced all dissent and are now pushing a new narrative that paints themselves as the heroes.

Perhaps the propaganda has not been as successful overseas, but here in China it is gaining legs. Having a proud party member donate gifts to foreign countries is very much a part of changing the narrative on this crisis. The government here is allowing the conspiracy theory to spread that the origins of the virus were foreign, and that it was all just a stroke of bad luck that Wuhan got hit first. But - never fear - Xi Jinping rode in to save the day! This is an extremely damaging take on what happened. Whether you support the one-party state or not, it bodes poorly for the future of China to have leaders who cannot accept responsibility for their mistakes.

The CPC had the opportunity to learn from SARS, and it appears they did not. They now have an opportunity to learn from COVID-19, but if the story is twisted in such a way that people only remember the great success of Xi and the great magnanimity of people like Jack Ma, then that will not happen.

[FpUser]

Frankly I do not give a flying hoot about political intricacies of China. If you live there and looking to blame your leaders be my guest.

I am way more concerned about what is happening in Western hemisphere where I live. All I know is we've allowed major f'ck up all on our own.