Fox News – Berman and Goetzmann: Coronavirus response — a chance to make the West great again

Currently most Western countries are embroiled in political disputes and recriminations over which leaders responded effectively and which failed in the current crisis. Yet both so-called populists and globalists are threatened by the same virus that came from Wuhan.

From Justin Trudeau to Boris Johnson, the virus has unleashed a turmoil that is a challenge to all liberal democracies and market economies. Yet while our party politics — as is normal in democracies — engages in partisan debate, there should be no doubt as to the true culpability. As Paul Miller puts it “Xi Jinping did not create the virus, but his government is directly responsible for its global spread, and its terrible consequences for people and economies around the world.”

If authorities in China had acted effectively when the disease was first identified — in mid-November — it might have been localized in Hubei and the pandemic might have been halted or at least significantly constrained. Yet, the heroic whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang was prevented from sounding the alarm by the repressive regime. Instead, due to the heavy hand of the Chinese Communist Party, we are left counting the dead: Thank you, Chairman Xi.

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