For some time now, prominent conservatives and Republicans have blamed the Chinese Communist Party for subjecting the world to the coronavirus through its negligence, deceit, and abuse. A new poll shows that voters agree.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and YouGov’s new survey was released Wednesday morning, and it found an overwhelming consensus among voters that China is to blame. A whopping 69% of responding adults believe China is somewhat or very much responsible for the coronavirus. In addition, 67% view China as either a competitor or an enemy, with only 6% describing the country as an ally. And roughly 40% view China more negatively as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing global crisis.
“It wasn’t until this poll that we saw the full extent by which a majority of Americans directly blame the Chinese government,” VOC Executive Director Marion Smith said. “The Chinese Communist Party’s lack of transparency, lapses in communication, and spread of misinformation rapidly escalated the spread of the virus and hindered preventative measures on a global scale. These are numbers that are akin to how Americans viewed the Soviet Union during the Cold War.”
Voters are right. Despite the hyperventilations of some liberal journalists, it is not “racist,” “xenophobic,” or bigoted to blame the Chinese regime for how this crisis unfolded — so long as that is not extended to animus toward the Chinese people or Asian Americans. It is simply an acknowledgment of facts. Not only did China permit the unhygienic “wet market” conditions that fostered this disease and many others despite knowing the risks, it silenced journalists and scientists, trying to cover up the crisis and allowing it to spread before containment measures could be taken.
The latter part of the survey touched on how voters want to respond to China’s malfeasance, and this is where things get more complicated. It’s easy and justified to blame China, in part, for this crisis. But some of the policy ideas for retaliation that are increasingly gaining favor among voters are counterproductive at best.
A whopping 71% support “penalizing” China, and more than 50% of respondents favored China “paying countries affected by the pandemic.” More specifically, 41% back international sanctions, 33% want additional tariffs on Chinese goods, 32% say the United States should refuse to pay interest on Chinese-held debt, and 25% want to ban Chinese officials from the states.
The problem is that several of these retaliations would backfire.
Raising tariffs on China might sound like a great way to punish China, but in reality, those are actually just additional taxes mostly paid by U.S. consumers and businesses. A better way to reduce trade with China as a punishment would be to sign free trade agreements with other countries to allow our business to flow elsewhere naturally without punishing everyday consumers.
And as far as refusing to pay the interest on Chinese-held debt, the biggest victim there would be not the Chinese Communist Party but the U.S.’s own credit rating. The costs of paying our interest on future debt would likely skyrocket. This idea might sound good at first, but practically speaking, it would be a nightmare.
Yes, this poll makes it clear that voters overwhelmingly blame China for the coronavirus, and they’re not racist or wrong. But we should all be careful not to allow the throes of justifiable anger push us into embracing counterproductive policy positions.
