中文
By Andrew Korybko
The New York Times reported on Sunday that the Department of Homeland Security and FBI are planning to accuse China of trying to steal America's research into COVID-19 "vaccines, treatment and testing" in the coming days. Titled "U.S. to Accuse China of Trying to Hack Vaccine Data, as Virus Redirects Cyberattacks", the article mentions that these security services will primarily focus on China's alleged cyber-espionage activities in this respect, but they'll also allude to the role that "researchers and students" are suspected of playing as well given the draft document's use of the term "nontraditional actors" which is regarded as their euphemism.
Should these accusations be publicly leveled like The New York Times reported, then it would represent yet another highly irresponsible action by the U.S. in the context of the current COVID-19 crisis. It's already disappointing enough that it's taken to politicizing this pandemic for the purpose of maligning China's international reputation, but it would certainly be a new low if it officially claims that the People's Republic is trying to steal valuable information related to the virus. Even more troubling, it might put the safety of Chinese students and researchers in jeopardy since those still in the U.S. could be discriminated against or worse.
The reason why the U.S. is even reportedly contemplating making such accusations is because they'd conform to the information warfare narrative that its global perception managers are attempting to construct which portrays China as being entirely (and perhaps even criminally) responsible for this pandemic. As the cliched saying goes, "repeat a lie often enough until it becomes the truth", and that seems to be what the U.S. intends to do by making ever more outrageous claims against China. These new allegations are intended to make it seem like China is trying to sabotage the world's efforts against COVID-19, thus making it the enemy of all humanity.
Nothing could be further from the truth, however, since it was China that first alerted the world to this danger through its unprecedentedly transparent response to the original outbreak in Wuhan late last year. It's also dispatched much-needed medical aid to some of its partners such as Italy and Serbia, and has taken the lead in trying to coordinate a global response to this pandemic through the World Health Organization (WHO). China has also taken the principled stand that this virus is a threat to everyone and therefore shouldn't be politicized. Taken together, China has set the global standard for how countries should react to this crisis, unlike the U.S..
Meanwhile, America has done the opposite of China in practically all respects. Not only has there been visible confusion within the Trump Administration itself and between the various levels of the U.S. government over how to respond to COVID-19, but the issue has been completely politicized in both the domestic and international domains. Partisan politics prevail at home, while China-bashing defines its messaging abroad. The U.S. also refuses to participate in multilateral efforts aimed at creating a vaccine against this virus, and it's discontinued its funding of the WHO because that global structure refuses to take its side against China.
Upon comparing these two countries, it's clear to see that it's the U.S. - not China - which objectively has a very serious problem with its international reputation. That might explain the intensity of its information warfare narrative against China since it wants to divert attention from its self-centered response to this crisis. None of the U.S.' prior accusations had any evidence to support them, the same as its reportedly forthcoming ones related to Beijing's COVID-19 espionage efforts don't have any proof either. Rather, they're just mean-spirited attacks being made from a position of desperation after the U.S. realized that it's lost hearts and minds lately.
The more that the U.S. attacks China, the guiltier that it looks. People across the world are starting to realize that America's accusations against China are much more applicable to itself. It's incredulous that the country that's led the international response to this crisis and criticized America's isolationist approach would now want to sabotage the world's efforts at manufacturing a vaccine, but it's much more believable that the U.S. would have an interest in doing precisely that given the spoiler role that it's played since this pandemic started.
The author is a Moscow-based American political analyst.
