What are your thoughts on China ?

[Wetfloortiles]

Very interested in this.

I don't believe their numbers for a start, and I do feel they should take responsibility for this global pandemic.

The way Chinese people live gave the govt a huge advantage in managing the lockdown.
I live in a city on a compound with security gates. This is normal and not just something for privileged expats, my neighbours are all Chinese. The fact that the guards and gates are already there means it is straightforward to add another level of control and restrict movement in and out and removes all the individual interpretation of rules that we see in the uk under ‘lockdown’.
This is just one example of how they could limit the spread and would explain lower numbers than some other places. I am not saying that numbers are reliable, but that such measures made a huge difference.

I wonder how many Chinese companies will offer to take over or buy out all the worldwide businesses that now face closure or bankruptcy .

Interesting point which hadn't accurred to me, HappyHammy

No doubt they'll take full advantage, just as Trump, Boris et al will do the same for their own political purposes

None of the figures are reliable - neither the U.K. govn nor the Chinese govn.

As for death figures, are we recording only hospital deaths because they've been tested for Covid-19? What about deaths in the community, in care homes where there were hospital admissions

Anyone who believes the numbers China reported is deluded - anyone who can’t see the timing of china’s lockdown vs their new year travel is blind

Should have read - where there were no hospital admissions

@Bool
Absolutely.

@Porseb
But by exactly the same process, I could describe you blaming the Italians as racist too?
This is nothing about RACE. It is about governments, policy, human/animal rights. Both China and ours and any other.

It's such a shame that people can't discuss anything without the race card being used to silence people

a lot of deflection on R4 re China atm. It’s strange. With it change to the cause and origin we will be looking at 3rd pandemic in similar fashion. And it could be worse

I think it's very interesting. Especially given the robust and relentless criticism of the US, for example. As I said, imagine if this virus had originated in Kansas and there were allegations of silencing whistleblowers and manipulating statistics to underplay its seriousness. Can you imagine the coverage? In The Guardian et al......

What about the timing of Italy's lockdown? After the big main ski season?

I think they've probably made some good calls and some bad calls. They were the first country who had to learn about and tackle this pandemic. I think they probably learnt some lessons from previous crises.

Regardless of what they did well or badly our own govt hasnt taken expert advice over the years on contingency planning or acted quickly enough now.

I pay taxes to the uk govt to protect me, not the chinese one.

Where did I blame the Italians? I'm drawing comparison between those who say that China timed its lockdown with Italy's timing of its lockdown.

And I could say the same for the UK's timing of lockdown - after universities closed their doors and thousands of students sent home from London and England to places like Singapore (currently seeing a second wave).

I really wish they would change their appalling record on animal cruelty. It's absolutely disgusting and beyond barbaric what they do to animals. Yes I'm also aware that in slaughter houses etc here the animals also suffer which is the reason I don't eat much meat at all and when I do buy free range.

@porseb I am a bit aghast how anyone can try and deflect this virus crisis into other countries. This virus came from a wet market in Wuhan. The Chinese government tried to silence the people trying to tell the world about it. Yes Trump is an idiot by calling it the Chinese virus. But until China own up to their mistakes then this could happen again.

I'm not playing the race card to silence this discussion - I'm saying there is an effect of politicians playing the race card (see earlier note about Bojo and Trump) and media covering it, leading to people like me being harassed and targeted

But they will never own up to their mistakes. The world will continue and this whole disaster could happen again

What did Boris say @porseb. Sorry I missed what he said about China.

@Bool
I agree with everything you are saying!

If you have lived anywhere in Asia, not just China, you will realise that wet markets are a norm.

Even though much of Asia now has supermarkets, many Asian households still prefer buying from the wet market.

How does China own up to this? I see China delivering aid in the form of masks and PPE to countries like Italy and Spain - does this not demonstrate it feels some responsibility towards these countries?

I think governments generally have sleep-walked into this. The risks of a pandemic virus spreading from animals to humans has been known since SARS if not before. Governments stopped funding research once SARS stopped being a real threat to many.

The Chinese government needed to ban wet markets and educate its population about food hygiene and deal with the 'tradition' medicine misconceptions. I blame the UK government for being weak on its initial response - why were large scale events like Scotland v france rugby, Liverpool v Madrid football matches allowed to go ahead. Why wasn't everyone returning from italy, Spain and France told they had to self-isolate for 14 days or being quarantined from northern italy. Poor responses generally I think.

And I could say the same for the UK's timing of lockdown - after universities closed their doors and thousands of students sent home from London and England to places like Singapore (currently seeing a second wave)

Can you provide a link to international students were 'sent home?' @Porseb?

Speaking with The Guardian, an unnamed vice-chancellor of a Russell Group university said that a complete shutdown of their institution would be impossible as students would be left with nowhere to go.“We couldn’t fully close. What do you do with thousands of international students who can’t go home?” they said, adding that their university would provide free accommodation for international students who were stranded, even if the UK government told them to shut.

thepienews.com/news/uk-international-coronavirus/

@bool - sorry it's a daily mail article

• note the timing of such articles after the pivot in U.K. strategy from herd immunity

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8163767/Downing-Street-says-China-faces-reckoning-coronavirus.html

@Porseb it’s not the wet markets per se. It is the wild animals that are being sold there and eaten. And it is not like this hasn’t happened before. We keep getting warnings. Next time the virus could be even more virulent. Maybe worst for children. I just cannot bear that this may happen again and maybe even worse. Yes China have sent a few personnel to Italy and some (faulty) testing kits to Spain. And that is to be applauded. But that is not the point. The point is this shouldn’t happen in the first place and we need to debate and understand how so that we can prevent this ever happening again. I for one don’t blame Chinese people. It is devastating to them too. I blame practice of eating wild animals and the Government response.

@bovaryx

www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20200318200304675

A lot of my friends in Asia have kids at uni's in England and they all left several weeks ago