If you compare China’s rate of infection to that of the US or Italy, you’d notice a huge difference in the last few weeks.
Yes, China has seemingly managed to contain the Covid-19 virus, while infection rates in Italy and the US have skyrocketed.
But the keyword is seemingly, here.
Because even though the Chinese government claims that virtually no new Covid-19 cases have appeared recently in Wuhan, and has even lifted lockdown restrictions there, some believe that they are not being entirely truthful about the number of coronavirus cases in the country.
And what should you do to display your anger with another country’s government in such a situation?
Abandon your deal with their local phone company, of course.
UK Government Reportedly ‘Furious’ With China for COVID-19
Boris Johnson, the man with the fluffiest hair in the world and also UK’s Prime Minister, is reportedly furious with China’s handling of the coronavirus.
Why? Because he and many UK government officials believe that China is spreading disinformation about the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in its country.
According to the Daily Mail, scientists have warned Johnson that China could have downplayed its number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus “by a factor of 15 to 40 times.”
China has a total of 81,439 Covid-19 cases at the moment, but if this accusation is true, this number could be over a million at least.
This is why UK government officials warned that Beijing faces a “reckoning” once the coronavirus crisis is over.
And you know how China has been donating medical supplies to numerous countries? Well, the UK government believes that the Chinese government is not simply doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.
UK officials believe China is trying to expand its economic power by offering help to other countries that are trying to combat the virus.
Whether this is true or not remains to be seen.
Could abandon a deal with Huawei
UK officials are so pissed with China’s handling of the pandemic that they are urging Johson to block a trade deal with Huawei.
Huawei was supposed to build large parts of Britain’s new 5G telecoms network, but many MPs in Johnson’s party have since expressed disapproval of the deal.
“We can’t stand by and allow the Chinese state’s desire for secrecy to ruin the world’s economy and then come back like nothing has happened.
“We’re allowing companies like Huawei not just into our economy, but to be a crucial part of our infrastructure.
‘This needs to be reviewed urgently, as does any strategically important infrastructure that relies on Chinese supply chains”, one cabinet minister said.
But is China really lying?
Are these officials right? Is China really lying about the number of coronavirus cases in the country?
Well, we don’t know for sure but there are a few signs that this could be true.
One is that China has expelled reporters from the Washington Post, the New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal – external sources it cannot control – and have clamped down increasingly on independent journalists, according to National Review.
Some “citizen journalists” who are attempting to expose what is happening claim that local governments cover up new cases and that hospitals are ordered to report new cases as normal flu or pneumonia.
Others claim that they are manipulating statistics by not counting cases in which tests indicate infection but people are asymptomatic.
So, it’s not like these UK officials watched a conspiracy theory video on YouTube, there seems to be actual evidence that supports their accusation.
Meanwhile, the number of global infections continues to climb, steadily approaching 750,000 at the time of writing.
I just wish we could go back to a time where our biggest worry in life was errant PMD riders on the streets.
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