The deadly coronavirus:
Chinese leaders say things are getting better,
but should you believe them?
Welcome back to China Uncensored.
I’m Shelley Zhang, filling in today for Chris Chappell,
who has been temporarily taken down by YouTube.
Well, I’ve got some good news and bad news
about the coronavirus disease that started in China—
called COVID-19.
First, the good news.
The head of the World Health Organization
said this week that their team in China
has made a range of findings about COVID-19,
including this:
“They found that the epidemic peaked
and plateaued between the 23rd January and the 2nd of February
and has been declining steadily since then.”
What a relief!
The W.H.O. says the epidemic
peaked in China three weeks ago,
and now it’s been declining.
And if you want to verify that,
just read Chinese state-run media...
...which just cites the W.H.O. again.
Creating a perfect, harmonious circle of information
that is definitely both believable and trustworthy.
Let’s see how things are on the ground this week, like in Beijing.
Well, that’s pretty light traffic for rush hour.
And all these shops seem to be closed.
What’s going on?
“Our company has less than 100 employees,
and now we only have around 10 people working in the office.”
That does not sound good.
Well, unless he hates his co-workers;
then it’s pretty great.
Look, we’ve all been there.
Now, I think it’s time for the bad news.
The bad news is, when Chinese state-run media
and the W.H.O. say coronavirus cases are on the decline...
that is a lie.
Did you hear that?
That was the sound of this episode
being demonetized by YouTube.
I hope you watched our recent also demonetized episode
about how corruption in the W.H.O. helped the coronavirus spread.
If you did, you’d know that you should not trust the W.H.O.—
because while their top executives
are galavanting around the world in first class,
the division responsible for handling the coronavirus outbreak,
“is so chronically underfunded it has repeatedly been found
to pose a ‘severe’ and ‘unacceptable’ level of hazard.”
That certainly hasn’t stopped the W.H.O. from partnering with China,
and taking China’s money.
Which is another reason that you shouldn’t trust what the W.H.O.
says about how the Chinese Communist Party
has handled the coronavirus.
Look how close they are.
Wait, don’t get that close.
There’s a coronavirus spreading.
Wash your hands, Wang Yi.
Meanwhile, Chinese leaders
are encouraging Chinese peopleto return to work
because they don’t want the economy disrupted.
But Chinese leaders *themselves*
have just canceled their hugely important “Two Sessions” meeting,
because the fight against the coronavirus is actually intensifying.
Yes, everything is fine and the masses have nothing to worry about.
Go make the economy strong.
But the Chinese government is going to call in sick.
Just in case.
Look, nobody actually likes the Two Sessions.
Which is an annual meeting of the National People’s Congress,
or the NPC.
And the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference,
the CPPCC.
Mostly it’s an excuse for the attendees to get in a good nap.
Unless you’re Yao Ming.
He can’t exactly blend in.
But you know who’s really glad the meetings have been postponed?
The tea ladies.
So gross.
Postponing the two sessions is a political blow, and a loss of face.
But, Chinese leaders don’t want hundreds of Party delegates
from all those possibly disease-ridden provinces
coming to Beijing next month,
thank you very much.
This is called “setting the right example.”
It’s like how, as the masses deal
with a severe shortage of face masks...
...Chinese leaders...set the right example.
Seriously though, when it comes to the coronavirus,
don’t look at what Chinese leaders say.
Look at what they do.
So the W.H.O. is corrupt.
And the unholy alliance between the W.H.O.
and the Chinese Communist Party could also be leading to,
at best...mixed messages,
and at worst, dangerous lies.
So take their advice with a grain of salt.
And a handful of Purell.
What do you think?
Leave your comments below.
And before I go, it’s time for me to answer a question
from one of our contributors on Patreon.
Episodes like this one usually get demonetized by YouTube,
so we rely on viewer support to keep this show going.
And as a reward,
we answer some of our contributors’ questions
at the end of some episodes.
Today’s question comes from...Coralline Algae.
“Do you think it would be beneficial for president Trump
to take a hard stance against the WHO?
Perhaps something similar to the hard stance
he took against NATO early in his presidency.”
Well, that’s a big question.
The W.H.O. is definitely corrupt.
But how much can the US really do?
The W.H.O. is a United Nations organization.
No single nation can control it,
and that’s by design.
That’s a good thing when it’s running cleanly.
But it doesn’t seem so good when US taxpayers
are forking over half a billion dollars a year to a corrupt,
ineffective, and wasteful organization.
But this isn’t just an issue for Trump.
Leaders from both major political parties
should unite behind this issue,
and publicly criticize the W.H.O. for corruption.
Beyond that,
the US could consider reducing its funding for the W.H.O.
or putting conditions on it,
like what Trump did with NATO.
But the W.H.O. is the only major international health organization.
So while it’s hard to live with,
it’s also hard to live without.
It’s a lot more complicated than NATO,
so there are no easy answers here.
Thanks for your question, Coralline.
And thank you for watching.
Go to Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored
and contribute a dollar or more per episode
to help us keep making episodes like this.
Once again, I’m Shelley Zhang,
filling in for Chris Chappell.
Thanks for watching China Uncensored.