Racism and Xenophobia Are Not Cured for American Politicians

On March 16, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese Virus” in his tweet. Astonishingly, he kept using this expression of racism and xenophobia during White House briefings in following days.

As the U.S. stock market saw its fourth circuit breaker, and the confidence of the market plummeted, President Trump set aside the increasing domestic backlash to the government’s incompetence in combating the virus and tried to rhetorically blame China.

The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the official name for the coronavirus disease as “COVID-19” as early as February 11. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus clearly stated, “We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people.”

Trump’s attempt to stigmatize China has received extensive criticism. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, warned again on March 18: “Viruses know no borders and they don’t care about your ethnicity, the color of your skin or how much money you have in the bank. So it’s really important we be careful in the language we use, lest it leads to the profiling of individuals associated with the virus.” Ryan said that the 2009 H1N1 pandemic started in North America, and people don’t call it the North American flu. When it comes to other viruses, the same approach must be used, avoiding connecting a virus with a region.

Geng Shuang, spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that some American politicians are trying to stigmatize China’s efforts in an attempt to shirk responsibility. They have ignored the huge sacrifices the Chinese people made in safeguarding the health and safety of all mankind, and vilified China’s significant contributions to global public health security. Their moves run counter to the WHO’s professional advice and the expectations and efforts of the international community to fight the pandemic together.

Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said earlier that it is “absolutely wrong and inappropriate” to label the coronavirus as the “Chinese Virus.” Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio stated that Trump’s “Chinese Virus” epithet will result in more Asian Americans suffering.

According to a report by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) on March 19, the New York City Police Department has recently investigated several hate crimes against Asian Americans, who are experiencing severe intimidation, discrimination and harassment. Some political elites in the U.S. are obsessed in playing up the so-called “Chinese Virus,” making racial discrimination and other problems even worse.

London Breed, mayor of San Francisco, said that referring to the virus that causes COVID-19 as a “Chinese virus” is “offensive and counterproductive.” “There is never an excuse for xenophobia. Coronavirus is a global pandemic that is affecting all of us, and it requires all of us to listen to public health experts and respond together,” Breed said in a statement.

According to real-time statistics released by Johns Hopkins University, there had been 14,250 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., with 205 deaths, by the evening of March 19. Under the severe threat of the pandemic, if the Trump administration continues shirking responsibilities with racism and xenophobia and introduces no proactive measures, they will get nothing but a more divisive society, which benefits neither epidemic control efforts nor reduction of the anxiety and fear of the people.