China at large

Davos is a place in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon about a magical Shangri-La. In Switzerland, this is Davos.

But contemplation from a mountainous utopia is the last thing the world needs right now. As the wire agency said of last week’s virtual economic conference in Davos, the event was “renowned for hosting elites touting lofty goals that are often seen as out of touch with ordinary people”. Welcome to the pandemic hypothesis. They hope to meet live in May, so all hope is not lost.

Last week, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry and partner Bill Gates raved about climate change.

The World Health Organization talks about the unfairness of vaccines.

Chinese President Xi Jinping promotes “win-win” and vaccine technology sharing. This comes from a country that ignores intellectual property.

They should invite the Herald to a virtual meeting because we will counter what the world really needs: First, China should apologize to everyone because they care more about their own economy than the health of the world.

The slow pace of sharing news of the deadly pneumonia outbreak has doomed the rest of us with fear and frustration with COVID-19. This should be at the top of the Davos agenda. If you have an outbreak of any kind, alert the world immediately. China, you didn’t do that, and it caused economic pain.

Why we tiptoe around the Chinese is baffling.

The Chinese president announced plans to send an additional 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, including 600 million doses to Africa, at a mini-forum in Davos, the Associated Press reported.

This is passive, not active. The world economy — all the places where hot chocolate flows beneath the towering ski slopes of Davos — is about public health. So why not use this solemn gathering, virtual or not, to warn China of the consequences of causing a pandemic?

According to the Wall Street Journal, Intel Corporation got it. The company announced Friday that it plans to invest at least $20 billion in new chip-making capacity in Ohio. If China wants to dominate the market, CEOs will need to fight back.

It’s time to send a message that openness is not worth discussing. If the WHO doesn’t scold China, Davos must. The mob will only respond to force. Russian President Vladimir Putin also falls into this category.

If China pleads not guilty and vows not to slow down the outbreak, they should be banned from Davos in May. By that time spring will come to us and hopefully the virus may already be in remission. But world economic leaders should not forget the damage done.

This Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracker It shows nearly 345 million cases of COVID globally and nearly 5.6 million deaths as of the end of the week. Go see that horrible record. You see, the number of cases in China has dropped to 118th in the world.

The United States came first, followed by India, Spain, Argentina, Australia, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, Canada, Portugal, Israel, the Netherlands, Greece, Russia, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, Mexico, Colombia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Sweden, Peru, Ireland, Poland, Japan, Austria, Bolivia, Serbia, Norway, South Africa, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia, Thailand, Uruguay, Hungary, Finland, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Panama, Bulgaria… through Iceland and Little Luxembourg until you reach China .

That should be enough to get the Davos elite to get China’s attention once and for all.