A slew of European and African nations, plus Australia and, of course, the United States are angrier at China than they’ve been in a very long time. To which I say, good.
The reason for all this, as you undoubtedly know, is Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which originated on its turf in the city of Wuhan.
Bottom line: It took a direct threat to the lives of other nations’ citizens for the international community to finally react to the heavy-handed and duplicitous manner that China deals with its own people and the world.
Just how widespread this opprobrium has become is detailed in this New York Times overview piece.
My question?
When this pandemic ultimately subsides — or at least becomes relatively manageable — will the international community’s attitude toward China revert to the previous just-look-the-other-way approach because there’s lots of money involved?
Or is there a chance that, at least some Western-style democracies will view China’s morally questionable political and economic values and actions in a different and more critical light?
The realist in me — or cynic, take your choice — thinks that the passage of time and humanity’s seemingly insatiable appetite for material comforts will again serve China’s imperial designs. And that China’s ruthless authoritarianism will again be overlooked. That accepting its police-state treatment of political dissidents and religious believers will again be viewed as the price global capitalism simply must pay to have access to China’s huge markets and it’s relatively cheap consumer products. Correct?
Journalists might want to start asking these questions now. And not only of the business and political leaders in their area. But of their religious leaders and thinkers — their community’s presumed moral compasses.
Also, don’t overlook the rank-and-file religious believers (and non-believers); they represent a community’s popular moral outlook.
A lot is being said about how the coronavirus pandemic will inevitably change how we live.
Some hope this experience will produce a more empathic society with a heightened recognition of the jobs that truly keep our towns and cities functioning as well as they do. Others worry about the possibility of additional and permanent government interference in opposition to the U.S. Constitution, including the freedom of assembly for religious worship.
At this point, I think, they’re all just guessing based on their particular worldview. None of us knows what will actually transpire.
But why not take the current temperature of the locale you cover? Then do it again in six months and a year from now to document attitudinal changes.
Attention religion writers: The beat is more than just keeping score of denominational infighting and interfaith competitions or worship attendance figures.
In my view, the core of the beat includes tracking society’s moral core and relating it to religious teachings. Just try not to be too judgmental when writing straight news stories, if that’s still possible in today’s opinion-oriented media environment.
Regular GetReligion readers may recall I’ve long been critical of China’s government. This being a religion- and journalism-infused website, I’ve honed in on the coverage of China’s treatment of its Tibetan Buddhist, Uyghur Muslim and Christian minorities in particular.
Some may remember that in a post I published last December. I floated the idea of punishing China for its pre-coronavirus savagery with an international boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics scheduled for Beijing.
Two members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently made the same suggestion in this Washington Examiner opinion column. And last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a radio interview, also raised the idea of moving those games from China.
(Mentioning Pompeo in this context prompts me to include this important caveat: Please do not interpret this post as my being in alignment with the Donald Trump administration’s attempt to divert attention from its own coronavirus failings by trying to make China the sole fall guy. President Trump’s coronavirus response has been too late, too little and utterly and dangerously contradictory, in my view. Nor do I agree with his Darwinian, political push for a swift economic recovery at the expense of what I view as genuinely pro-life health measures.)
Morality is a complex issue on all levels. So I wonder to what degree past international refusal to hold China’s feet to the moral fire allowed Beijing to act as it has during this pandemic.
But the past cannot be changed. So what now?
Can the situation somehow be rectified? Should China be forced to pay a steep price for its pandemic immorality? For its continued hardline efforts to keep the lid on what really happened in Wuhan?
At a minimum I think the planned 2022 Winter Olympics should be taken away from China.
You’re probably aware that the coronavirus has prompted postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics until at least 2021. Many medical experts say the pandemic could cause coronavirus outbreaks around the world for as long as one to two more years. If so, this is also likely to delay the 2022 winter games.
I’d much rather see China lose it’s Olympic stage because the world awoke to its moral responsibilities. But I’m not about to hold my breath.
The coronavirus has a greater chance of extracting a price from China then does a change of heart on the part of the global capitalist elite.
A Hindu or Buddhist might chalk this up to the law of karma. A Christian might conclude it a variation on Romans 6:23’s reference to “the wages of sin is death.”
I see it as a chance to ask additional journalistic questions about moral attitudes as they relate to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. There’s more to this story than politics and money.