At the end of World War II, Germany was obliged to pay reparations to Allied nations to compensate for the economic and human tragedy inflicted by the Nazi party’s fateful decision to wage war, first in Europe, and then throughout the globe.
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing global economic carnage which many economists believe will be on a scale similar to a world war. As such, there are growing calls for China to pay reparations to affected nations.
The calls stem from the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) covering up the virus for a period of at least six weeks, and — crucially — co-opted the services of the WHO to deny the existence of human-to-human transmission, robbing nations of vital time to prepare their defenses against the virus.
There is also growing evidence that during the six-week information blackout, the CCP used Chinese companies to systematically buy up global stocks of personal protective equipment, leaving many countries with critical shortages when the virus hit.
To make matters worse, China is now either flogging personal protective equipment to nations affected by the virus, or donating it as a cynical diplomatic ploy.
The CCP is also using the chaos inflicted by the virus as cover to gain economic and military advantage over other nations.
Judging by the growing chorus of voices around the world demanding reparations, Beijing’s ongoing propaganda onslaught to limit the fallout from its cover-up of the virus is failing to cut the mustard.
On Wednesday last week Bild, Germany’s largest-circulation newspaper, published an editorial addressed directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), in which it set out an itemized “invoice” of losses caused by the virus, and demanded China provide US$165 billion in reparations.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also weighed in, publicly calling on China to be transparent about the source of the virus.
On Tuesday, Missouri became the first US state to sue the Chinese government over its handling of COVID-19. The civil lawsuit alleges negligence and accuses China’s government of making the pandemic worse by “hoarding” masks and other personal protective equipment.
A Florida-based law firm, Berman Law Group, has filed a class-action lawsuit against the CCP, seeking US$4 trillion in reparations.
Philippine Senator Risa Hontivores has called on China to “foot the bill” for Manila’s COVID-19 response.
Whether there exists solid legal grounds for the payment of reparations, it is highly unlikely that Beijing would be willing to pay up. After all, it ignored the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague’s 2016 ruling in favor of the Philippines over disputes in the South China Sea.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has attacked the calls for reparations, branded the Missouri lawsuit “nothing short of absurdity” and accusing Bild of fueling “nationalism, prejudice and xenophobia.”
However, even if the calls for reparations are pie in the sky, they are still significant. The CCP’s mendacious handling of the virus, appears to have hastened a hardening of the international community’s attitude toward Beijing, a trend that was already gathering momentum before the pandemic struck.
Future historians might look back on the pandemic as the moment when a new cold war between the free world and China began in earnest.
To The Honorable Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜): We would like to extend our sincerest regards to you for representing Taiwan at the inauguration of US President Donald Trump on Monday. The Taiwanese-American community was delighted to see that Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan speaker not only received an invitation to attend the event, but successfully made the trip to the US. We sincerely hope that you took this rare opportunity to share Taiwan’s achievements in freedom, democracy and economic development with delegations from other countries. In recent years, Taiwan’s economic growth and world-leading technology industry have been a source of pride for Taiwanese-Americans.
Next week, the nation is to celebrate the Lunar New Year break. Unfortunately, cold winds are a-blowing, literally and figuratively. The Central Weather Administration has warned of an approaching cold air mass, while obstinate winds of chaos eddy around the Legislative Yuan. English theologian Thomas Fuller optimistically pointed out in 1650 that “it’s always darkest before the dawn.” We could paraphrase by saying the coldest days are just before the renewed hope of spring. However, one must temper any optimism about the damage being done in the legislature by the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), under
To our readers: Due to the Lunar New Year holiday, from Sunday, Jan. 26, through Sunday, Feb. 2, the Taipei Times will have a reduced format without our regular editorials and opinion pieces. From Tuesday to Saturday the paper will not be delivered to subscribers, but will be available for purchase at convenience stores. Subscribers will receive the editions they missed once normal distribution resumes on Sunday, Feb. 2. The paper returns to its usual format on Monday, Feb. 3, when our regular editorials and opinion pieces will also be resumed.
This year would mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the India Taipei Association (ITA) in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi. From the vision of “Look East” in the 1990s, India’s policy has evolved into a resolute “Act East,” which complements Taiwan’s “New Southbound Policy.” In these three decades, India and Taiwan have forged a rare partnership — one rooted in shared democratic values, a commitment to openness and pluralism, and clear complementarities in trade and technology. The government of India has rolled out the red carpet for Taiwanese investors with attractive financial incentives
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