The new Cold War could lead to a situation similar to that of Muslim Americans after 9/11, with Chinese Americans being unfairly targeted and ostracized due to nationalism. This will especially be the case for those working in university labs or related fields.
This podcast discusses the rise of zero COVID as a policy in China and how it has affected daily life more dramatically during the pandemic, while also exploring its early success in controlling the virus in China.
Despite the many issues that have originated from China, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lack of accountability and repercussions for the Chinese government's actions. This has led to a growing concern about the difficulty in fixing these issues in the future.
The suppression of voices sounding the alarm in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak led to significant loss of life. The lack of civil and political rights in countries like China can lead to governments prioritizing their own interests over the well-being of their citizens in times of crisis.
The idea that the wellbeing of Chinese scientists outweighs the wellbeing of the world is preposterous when it comes to the lab leak theory. The risk of a zoonotic spillover event causing a major and highly destructive pandemic was so great that we had to risk this and by demonizing evidence-based theory, we are setting a terrible precedent.
The World Health Assembly is meeting to negotiate a new pandemic treaty due to the insufficient response of our current structures to such crises. The pandemic outbreak has exposed the weakness of our global institutions, and how they need to be strengthened to tackle this type of crisis in the future.