In a ridiculously hypocritical editorial this week, Beijing’s Global Times propaganda outlet lambasted Britain for the outbreak of a variant coronavirus strain on U.K. soil.
“The UK, once an empire on which the sun never set,” the newspaper observed, “is becoming an isolated island. This new outbreak caused by a mutant coronavirus might have pushed the country’s international prestige to its lowest level since the British Empire.”
The first point to note here is the utter sense of absolute arrogance that comes across. It is Beijing, after all, that was responsible for allowing the coronavirus epidemic to become a global pandemic in the first place. Its Communist apparatchiks in Wuhan aggressively covered up the growing crisis. Their actions included the imprisonment of courageous doctors such as Li Wenliang, who tried to raise the alarm and save Chinese lives. While Li was later released, he died of the virus after the Communist Party failed to provide him and other doctors with quality personal protective equipment. Incidentally, China then spent the ensuing months selling tens of billions of dollars worth of faulty protective equipment to the rest of the world. When the world finally learns how much Beijing covered up in relation to the early coronavirus outbreak, including at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, China’s global reputation will take a further hit.
But back to the variant coronavirus. China had hoped that the viral outbreak would lead to Britain’s enduring isolation and economic weakening. But the passage of time since the publishing of those words and the timing of this article just a few days later offer a clear rebuke to the paper. Aside from the fact that the European Union has now reopened its borders to British trade flows, the EU and Britain have also now agreed to a landmark post-Brexit trade agreement. That deal will ensure both sides are best positioned to increase their economic growth over the coming decades.
That matters in the sense of why China ultimately wants Britain to be weaker. The Global Times proves its ideological impulse with its concluding line. “At this point,” it says, “the UK should simply quit dancing to US tune, such as sending aircraft carriers and showing off its muscle and influence in other regions. It should take care of itself now.”
That’s the key: China’s hatred for Britain’s political and security partnership with the United States and other democracies. Beijing has watched with increasing ire as Prime Minister Boris Johnson has moved away from its interests over the past year. Whether in restricting China’s spy agency, Huawei, from access to Britain’s 5G network, or in promising to deploy a new aircraft carrier through the South China Sea next year, Beijing has witnessed that its bullying campaign has failed. That the offer of massive investments in the British economy in return for Britain’s political submission has failed.
So instead, we’re left with temper tantrum like editorials such as this week’s. Hypocrisy aside, Beijing is quite pathetic.
