Provocation to human civilization must be rejected
By Zhong Sheng
The Daily Telegraph newspaper
in New South Wales of Australia recently defaced China’s national emblem, evilly
associating COVID-19 with China.
National emblem is the symbol
of a sovereign country and is inviolable. By politicizing the pandemic and
labeling the virus, the newspaper has discarded justice, broken through the
bottom line of morality, and gravely hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
Such malicious conduct should never be tolerated.
The COVID-19 pandemic tests the
world’s morality and civilization. The media is the recorder of history, and it
should consciously cultivate moral integrity, uphold and defend the basic
values of human civilization, and keep the bottom line of human civilization.
The national flags and national
emblems are important symbols of modern civilization. They express the deep
feelings of the people of all countries and represent the noble dignity of all
countries. By blatantly stigmatizing China under the excuse of the pandemic and
inciting racism, the Australian newspaper has made a move contrary to modern
civilization.
Virus tracing is a rigorous and
serious scientific issue that requires professional expertise. Since the
outbreak of COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly
stressed that the novel coronavirus could have come from just about anywhere in
the world.
In a research paper published
on The Lancet recently, 16 global health law scholars warned that responses
that are anchored in fear, misinformation, racism, and xenophobia will not save
the world from outbreaks like COVID-19.
Disregarding the warnings of
the WHO and the international health law scholars, and openly violating the
International Health Regulations, the Australian newspaper did nothing but a
shame.
Media reports should be based
on facts and out of conscience. It is obvious to all that China has made active
contributions in defending human rights to life and health. By always putting
people’s lives first, the country has consolidated the sound momentum of
epidemic prevention and control at home.
China actively participates in
and propels international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic by
adhering to the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind
and advocating the international humanitarian spirit.
Both its epidemic prevention
and control achievements at home and its role in the global anti-pandemic
cooperation are undeniable. Instead of reporting facts, the Australian
newspaper called white black out of ideological prejudice, which revealed its
lack of professional integrity.
The global war against COVID-19
is a race against deaths. Any conscientious and responsible media outlet should
play a constructive role in promoting global cooperation in fighting the
pandemic.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper
disregarded the negotiations and condemnation of the Chinese Consulate-General
in Sydney and repeatedly carried out malicious slander against China under the
excuse of the pandemic.
On April 1, the Chinese
Consulate-General in Sydney sent a letter to the newspaper, refuting its
arrogant and prejudiced pandemic-related reports on China. However, the
newspaper later played a similar trick in its reporting and published an
article on April 23 saying the illustration of the Chinese national emblem was “excellent”,
continuing to shamelessly discredit China and the Chinese people despite the
condemnation from the Chinese Consulate General. It seems that the media outlet
has chosen to stand on the opposite of objectiveness and fairness.
The facts are self-evident and
justice naturally inhabits people’s heart. British academic journal Nature
recently issued an editorial titled “Stop the coronavirus stigma now” on three
platforms in Chinese and English respectively, for three consecutive days.
In February, the WHO announced
the disease caused by the novel coronavirus would be called COVID-19, implicitly
sending a reminder to those who had erroneously been associating the virus with
Wuhan and China in their news coverage — including Nature, the editorial said.
“That we did so was an error on
our part, for which we take responsibility and apologize,” it said.
Nature’s clarifying the error
in a timely manner shows a responsibility. In contrast, the Daily Telegraph
newspaper has exposed its narrow-minded psychology and dark intentions.
The racist remarks about the
novel coronavirus and the consequent racial discrimination, racial
contradictions, and racial conflicts are all blatant provocations against modern
civilization that should be resisted by the international community. All
responsible media in the world should firmly adhere to justice and jointly
protect the basic values of human civilization.
(Zhong Sheng is a pen name
often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)
Provocation to human civilization must be rejected
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