Rita Panahi: China’s horrific wet markets must be held to account
The Chinese communist regime lied to the world about coronavirus and allowed it to spread through its ineptitude and negligence. So how has it been given the green light for the reopening of wet markets, asks Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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The race baiters are at it again. Even in the midst of a global pandemic and resultant economic devastation they cannot help themselves.
From the start of this crisis we’ve seen the usual suspects, typically taxpayer-funded grievance mongers, doing their utmost to inject racial politics into the coronavirus response. Any mention of the origins of coronavirus, the deplorable behaviour of the Chinese communist regime or the inhumane practices employed in wet markets is being characterised as “xenophobic”.
But while the PC-obsessed commentariat parrots the Chinese government’s talking points and act as the regime’s “useful idiots” in the West, they ignore real, systematic racism being inflicted on minorities in China.
The latest victims are Africans who are being targeted particularly in Guangzhou, prompting a US Embassy security alert that said “police ordered bars and restaurants not to serve clients who appear to be of African origin”.
The situation is so grim, several African nations are risking China’s ire by publicly protesting the treatment of their citizens.
Meanwhile, the same communist regime that lied to the world about coronavirus and allowed the virus to spread due to its ineptitude and negligence has given the green light for the reopening of wet markets with the backing of the UN’s World Health Organisation, a body that has been exposed as incompetent and thoroughly compromised.
I’ll spare you the graphic details of what occurs in these markets where livestock, cats, dogs and exotic animals are kept and slaughtered in the most horrific ways imaginable. After the SARS outbreak, China made noises about cracking down on the wildlife meat trade and the practices employed in wet markets but they remain as cruel and dangerous as ever.
Experts warn the wide array of live and dead animals, blood, entrails and faecal matter in close proximity with humans is a recipe for viral outbreaks.
It’s little wonder we have seen multiple pandemics originate from China’s wet markets, with the latest leaving thousands dead and crippling the world economy.
The WHO’s kowtowing to China has seen the organisation support the reopening of the wet markets “because they are a source of livelihood and food security to many people”. The millions of people who have lost livelihoods due to coronavirus are entitled to be bemused by that statement.
Health Minister Greg Hunt labelled wet markets “dangerous vectors” while Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called the decision to re-open them “unfathomable”. “There must be transparency in understanding how it began in Wuhan and how it was transmitted. We also need to fully understand and protect against the global health threat posed by places like wet markets,” Mr Morrison said.
Liberal MP and chair of the parliament’s intelligence and security committee, Andrew Hastie, also questioned the wisdom of resuming practices that have caused worldwide mayhem.
“Are we really to believe the Chinese Communist Party can’t eradicate wet markets?” he asked. “They can build artificial islands in the South China Sea, in the face of international opposition. Closing the wet markets should be child’s play by comparison. It’s a question of will.”
Let’s not forget that not only did the virus come from backward practices permitted by the totalitarian Chinese government but the superpower’s conduct, including the early cover-up and its ongoing disinformation efforts, has made the impact of COVID-19 significantly worse than if it had acted promptly and transparently.
One study from the University of Southampton found China could have prevented 95 per cent of infections if it had implemented strong measures three weeks earlier — when it was covering up evidence of the virus, arresting whistleblower doctors and ordering labs to destroy samples.
The least China can do would be to forgive debts to nations whose economies have been devastated by the virus. And it must come clean about the extent of the outbreak.
Its official figures are fantasy and no one believes only 3341 have died from the virus in China which has a population of about 1.4 billion when 3903 have died in Belgium, which has a population of 11.5 million.
— Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist