Following the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) immediately announced a month-long export ban on N95 respirators and other masks to prevent local supplies from running low.
Judged by the idea that a nation should protect itself before thinking about saving others, the export ban is rational. However, certain Taiwanese entertainers and politicians have blasted the government, saying that the ban is “inhumane” and “lacking in magnanimity.”
Some even went so far as to attack Su, calling him “a dog of a bureaucrat,” and asked Beijing to “return the favor.”
These remarks were widely reposted on Chinese microblogging site Sina Weibo, accompanied by negative comments, such as “how much help has China provided Taiwan, and this is what Taiwanese do in return,” “Taiwanese are the dregs of the Chinese people” and “we won’t feel sorry when we take over the island and wipe out the people without mercy.”
It was not the first time that Chinese or pro-China Taiwanese had directed unfounded criticism at governments outside China.
For example, when the anti-extradition movement started in Hong Kong, Chinese online commenters blamed “US scheming,” “Taiwanese support” and “the idiocy of Hong Kongers” rather than China’s Hong Kong Liaison Office or the Hong Kong government for pushing through legislation opposed by the public.
When their own government fails to handle things properly, Chinese Internet users are unwilling to talk about the cause of the incident and its background from a neutral perspective. Instead, they blame others or set up targets to attack.
For some people, this perspective comes from pure stupidity, the blocked flow of information, or fear of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
However, considering Beijing’s control of public opinion, at least part of this criticism should be viewed as an attack by China’s cyberarmy against Taiwan to divert the domestic public’s attention. By fueling public anger against external forces, the CCP can escape scrutiny.
Renowned US political economist Peter Navarro, now director of the White House National Trade Council and US President Donald Trump’s trade adviser, refers to China’s approach as a “wag the dog” strategy.
Navarro has frequently said that faced with rapidly escalating internal pressure, Taiwan is the ideal target for such a strategy.
During the coronavirus epidemic, the Chinese cyberarmy employed this strategy to divert public attention from the Chinese government — which blocked the information that led to the epidemic outbreak — to Taiwan’s mask export ban. China’s leadership has diverted the public anger caused by its intentional cover-up and its passive attitude at the epidemic’s onset.
The truth is that the coronavirus did not originate in Taiwan, Taiwan did not conceal information regarding the epidemic and its government did not lock down Chinese cities or falsify statistics.
Despite the innocence of Taiwan’s government and public, the epidemic has become so severe that Taiwan must regulate access to masks.
The government must stay alert around the clock and be cautious of Beijing’s “wag the dog” strategy, which might trigger unintended consequences.
Taiwanese entertainers and politicians must not become willing pawns in China’s strategy just to make a “tiny profit” or out of excessive kindheartedness.
The Chinese government should devote its limited time and energy to fighting the epidemic, reflecting on its mistakes and taking concrete action. This would be more valuable than spreading hatred and hurting cross-strait relations.
Chiu Chen-ya is a board director of a US-based non-governmental organization.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming
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