WHAT ARE THE SOURCES OF THE POLITICAL VIRUS?

Exposure of Ulterior Motives Behind Stigmatization of China with COVID-19 (Part III)

“政治病毒”的源頭在哪里

揭批借新冠肺炎疫情抹黑攻擊中國(guó)的叵測(cè)居心（三）

By Jun Sheng

■鈞　聲

While the biological virus is a common enemy of humankind, the political virus born out of certain American politicians is equally detestable, for it has damaged the global anti-epidemic cooperation and impeded the long-term development and progress of human society. The virus in the political world has done even more damages than the virus from the natural world.

病毒是全人類(lèi)共同的敵人，而滋生于美國(guó)一些政客身上的“政治病毒”同樣可憎，它危害全球抗疫大局，禍害人類(lèi)社會(huì)長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)發(fā)展進(jìn)步，其危害與自然界的病毒相比，有過(guò)之而無(wú)不及。

What are the sources of this political virus then?

“政治病毒”的源頭在哪里？

It is rooted in the selfish interests of a handful of American politicians. Not long ago, the American media revealed that senior US officials had handed down documents to a number of federal agencies requesting all federal employees to speak consistently about the pandemic and blame China for everything. The document was practically a confession of the US government on how it implemented the buck-passing. As 2020 is America’s election year, some American politicians are so crazily intent on fabricating all kinds of fallacies about “holding China accountable,” attacking the WHO for being too “China-centric,” and even criticizing some state governors for poor epidemic response, all to keep the epidemic from affecting the election. Such unscrupulous “political shows” reflect how desperate these politicians are to cover up their misconduct both in the decision and execution of their response, with a purpose of deflecting the public grumble.

——源于美國(guó)少數(shù)政客的私利。就在前不久，有美國(guó)媒體披露，美國(guó)高官曾向多個(gè)聯(lián)邦政府機(jī)構(gòu)下發(fā)文件，要求全美所有聯(lián)邦雇員在對(duì)外講話(huà)涉及疫情時(shí)要“統(tǒng)一口徑”，將一切都說(shuō)成是中國(guó)的責(zé)任。這份文件，可謂是指導(dǎo)其實(shí)施“甩鍋”戰(zhàn)術(shù)的自供狀。今年是美國(guó)的大選之年，為了不讓疫情連累到選情，美國(guó)一些政客瘋狂炮制各種荒謬的“中國(guó)責(zé)任論”，給世衛(wèi)組織扣上“以中國(guó)為中心”的帽子，甚至指責(zé)有的州長(zhǎng)抗疫不力……種種毫無(wú)底線(xiàn)的“政治秀”，無(wú)不是為了掩蓋自身在決策和行動(dòng)上的失誤，從而轉(zhuǎn)移民眾的不滿(mǎn)情緒。

The political virus is a tumor stemming from racism. After the WHO and the scientific circle named the novel coronavirus COVID-19, some American politicians deliberately ignored the new nomenclature and insisted on calling it the “Chinese virus”. It is an international consensus not to label a virus with a region, state, or race, which is also a universal principle that the international community should uphold. Yet these American politicians are determined to defy the world by intentionally steering public opinions in the direction of racism and xenophobia, and practicing racial discrimination. The use of the term “Chinese virus” for coronavirus laid bare the absolute absence of common sense, conscience, cooperative spirit, and morality in those politicians infected with the “political virus”.

——源于種族主義的毒瘤。在國(guó)際組織和學(xué)術(shù)界將“新冠病毒”命名為COVID-19后，美國(guó)一些政客卻放棄科學(xué)命名直呼“中國(guó)病毒”。反對(duì)給病毒貼上地域、國(guó)家、種族標(biāo)簽，這是國(guó)際社會(huì)已經(jīng)形成的共識(shí)，也是國(guó)際社會(huì)理當(dāng)堅(jiān)守的公道，而美國(guó)一些政客恰恰反其道而行之，有意識(shí)地將輿論引向種族主義和排外主義，實(shí)施種族歧視。“中國(guó)病毒”的稱(chēng)呼，更是暴露了一些感染“政治病毒”的美國(guó)政客既無(wú)常識(shí)、又無(wú)良知，既無(wú)合作理念、又罔顧道德底線(xiàn)的丑陋嘴臉。

The political virus derives from the Cold War mentality. A small group of American politicians have been obsessed with political maneuver and slandering China, especially the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been busy fanning flames and spreading rumors. The “political virus” ingrained in their mind is the hotbed of all their vicious intentions. They have the wishful thinking that accusing China of the so-called “mask diplomacy” would offset its influence; vilifying China’s aid to help build the African Center for Disease Prevention and Control as an attempt to “steal genome data” would drive a wedge between China and Africa; and egging other countries to claim reparations from China would pin the “original sin” of the virus on the country.... These whimsical whoppers are nothing but Washington’s attempts to curb China’s development.

——源于冷戰(zhàn)思維的泛起。美國(guó)一些政客大搞政治操弄，肆意詆毀中國(guó)。尤其是美國(guó)國(guó)務(wù)卿蓬佩奧，近來(lái)更是四處煽風(fēng)點(diǎn)火、造謠生事。他們腦子里根深蒂固的“政治病毒”，正是其險(xiǎn)惡意圖的淵藪。他們一廂情愿地認(rèn)為：攻擊中國(guó)搞“口罩外交”，就可以抵消中國(guó)的影響力；抹黑中國(guó)幫助非洲建立疾控中心是要“竊取基因組數(shù)據(jù)”，就能夠挑撥中國(guó)與非洲的關(guān)系；鼓動(dòng)各國(guó)蜂擁而上對(duì)中國(guó)進(jìn)行“索賠”，就能把病毒的“原罪”推到中國(guó)身上……如此彌天大謊，無(wú)非是為了達(dá)到遏制中國(guó)發(fā)展的目的。

The political virus is rooted in the obsession with “great-power competition.” The US government labeled China and Russia as the biggest challenges to US national security in its latest National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy, and declared the reemergence of great-power competition. During this global crisis of COVID-19, certain American politicians, going out of their way to make “ammunition to win the great-power competition,” have gone all out to oppose China in every possible way and tried hard to cover up America’s embarrassment of ineffective epidemic control measures by smearing China, rather than focus on preventing the virus spread. As we can never wake up someone pretending to be asleep, perhaps the best way is to leave him alone and “not even turn our eyes in his direction,” as the famous Chinese writer Lu Xun once said.

——源于“大國(guó)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)”的執(zhí)念。近年來(lái)，美國(guó)政府先后發(fā)布《國(guó)家安全戰(zhàn)略報(bào)告》和《國(guó)防戰(zhàn)略報(bào)告》，把中、俄定位為“對(duì)美國(guó)國(guó)家安全的最大挑戰(zhàn)”，宣布“世界重回大國(guó)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)狀態(tài)”。此次全球抗疫中，為了竭力打造“贏得大國(guó)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的彈藥”，美國(guó)一些政客非但不去集中精力抗疫，反而大搞“逢中必反”以圍堵中國(guó)，企圖靠污蔑中國(guó)來(lái)掩蓋自身防控疫情不力的難堪。對(duì)這種“裝睡”且“永遠(yuǎn)叫不醒”的人，或許最好的辦法就是不要理睬他們，就像魯迅先生當(dāng)年所說(shuō)的那樣，“連眼珠也不轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)去”。

The disease has seeped down into the skin and should be treated before it gets worse. The world is still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, and all countries need to join hands in defeating it. We advise the American politicians with ulterior motives to stop the misdeed and change course before it’s too late. We also call on the international community to stay on high alert and take strong measures to prevent the American political virus from spreading to do more harm to the global anti-epidemic efforts and the normal international order.

疾在腠理，不治將恐深。當(dāng)今世界，疫情仍危急如火，需要各國(guó)勠力同心、攜手應(yīng)對(duì)。奉勸那些別有用心的美國(guó)政客，立即懸崖勒馬，改弦更張。同時(shí)，我們也呼吁國(guó)際社會(huì)，高度警惕并采取有力措施，堅(jiān)決遏制美國(guó)的“政治病毒”滋生擴(kuò)散，防止其對(duì)全球抗疫大局造成更大傷害、對(duì)正常的國(guó)際秩序形成更大沖擊。