5. I think the deterioration in US China relations has to be seen as a continuum. According to Gallup polling the impression US Citizens have vis a vis China has plunged to post-Tiananmen levels in just the last few years. U.S. politicians have seized on this as a foreign policy issue and a feedback loop has been created. I have seen ample evidence this trend is occurring in many other countries at the same time.

It’s not inevitable that a health crisis, even a poorly managed one, can harm a country’s global image and foreign relations. There was no serious debate about “holding the DRC accountable” after Ebola, the international community just handled it the way many wish they would handle the current crisis. So why are we adopting this attitude toward China? And why did they accurately predict this would happen and rush forward with their own disinformation campaign to counteract it? Again, it’s the continuum. This crisis, leaving aside the obvious similarities to things like SARS, is simply another chapter from the same playbook that the CCP always uses (deny, suppress, censor, spread disinformation, blame foreigners, take credit for victory over disaster they created or exacerbated).

And therefore the debate isn’t really about responsibility for this pandemic, but rather accountability for a system of authoritarian control that increasingly presents an existential threat not just to its own citizens, but also to all people across the entire world. The answer is in all cases and circumstances the same. Transparency, accountability, and if not democratic reforms inside China than at least an honest attempt to adhere to international norms in trade, diplomacy, and public health. The same things that are always promised but somehow never actually delivered.