Then chief strategist and assistant of U.S. President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, participates during a meeting with cybersecurity experts, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC, United States, on January 31, 2017. (Xinhua/RonSachs/CNP/ZUMAPRESS)
Steve Bannon's recent China-smearing remarks have suggested that few around the world could fathom just how cold-blooded, brazen and ignorant he can be.
by Xinhua writer Chen Chen
BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Steve Bannon has long been a proven far-right fringe extremist. Yet the ideologue's recent China-smearing remarks have suggested that few around the world could fathom just how cold-blooded, brazen and ignorant he can be.
During an appearance on U.S. television network CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday, Bannon accused China of not caring about the novel coronavirus spreading across the rest of the world.
It is crystal clear that the alt-right extremist seeks to sow discord between China and the international community and sell his outdated Cold War zero-sum game theories, but he will surely fail because his words lack logic, facts and even humanity.
Bannon is absurd in his logic. He tried to make others believe that China's fight against the disease and that of the world can be separated entirely. The truth is that in this age of globalization, no one can pull through this unprecedented public health challenge alone, and an ultimate victory is only possible when all countries fight as one. That is how China has handled this pandemic from the very beginning.
The former White House chief strategist also built his arguments on fiction instead of facts.
Since the outbreak, China has made enormous efforts and sacrifices in a timely, responsible and transparent manner. Domestically, it boldly locked down the city of Wuhan with over 10 million residents, and implemented rigorous social-distancing measures nationwide, many of which have been put into place by other countries.
Liu Senbo (L) and his colleague Mei Yiqi carry sealed boxes containing samples collected from patients at the Leishenshan (Thunder God Mountain) Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)
Internationally, the Chinese government has been constantly sharing critical information with the World Health Organization (WHO) and countries worldwide, and sending urgently needed medical supplies and dispatching teams of experts to those in need.
Those strong measures have effectively helped contain the spread of the virus to other parts of the nation and the wider world at the earliest time possible, and therefore bought the world time to prepare.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has praised China's contributions to the global fight against COVID-19, saying the Chinese are making efforts for humanity. What's more, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the decisive, effective and timely measures taken by the Chinese government have prevented the infection of tens of thousands of people.
Chinese medical team experts and Italian doctors pose for a photo in Padua, Italy, March 18, 2020. (Chinese Medical Team/Handout via Xinhua)
During the program, Bannon also attempted to use the pandemic as an excuse to hold China accountable. However, the COVID-19 outbreak is a natural disaster as is shown by a sea of evidence, and China is also a victim like everyone else. Therefore, China will never succumb to blackmail of all kinds under any circumstances.
Bannon is known for his fanatic right-wing oratory. Whenever he opens his mouth, he just talks on and on in his particular aggressive way. But when he speaks, you can not feel a human heart beating, but a ruthless geo-political calculating machine humming. His latest CNBC baloney follows the same inhuman style.
At the moment when the COVID-19 infections have surpassed 3.5 million globally with the death toll topping 240,000, Bannon, instead of urging Washington to do a better job to battle the virus with the rest of the world, is seeking to manipulate this global public health crisis as an opportunity to mislead the public with his divisive and hate-based nationalist agenda.
The ongoing fight against the pandemic has already been extremely difficult. The international community should guard against such ultra-extremist plots, and make sure that people like Bannon do not make it harder. ■
