不要把你們政府抗疫失敗的責任推給中國

作者：Davide Mastracci • 2020年04月13日 • 分類：2020年新冠疫情, 國際政治, 港台民粹運動, 轉載, 翻譯

編按：本文譯自加拿大網媒《道路》（Passage）主任編輯大衛·馬斯特拉奇（Davide Mastracci）在2020年4月7日發表的文章，原題為 〈Don’t Blame China For Your Government’s COVID-19 Failures〉 。

The anti-China narrative is based on falsities, and serves to distract people from the failure of neoliberalism.

關於新冠疫情的反中故事不只是建立在謊言之上，還是為了讓人們忘記新自由主義的失敗。

In early January, COVID-19 was largely limited to China. Now, just three months later, it has spread far beyond China’s border, and has effectively been halted domestically within the country. 

在1月初，新冠肺炎大體上只在中國存在。而今，只在三個月之後，它在中國境外大範圍傳播，而在中國國內則得到了有效的遏制。

There are currently around 1.36 million reported COVID-19 cases globally, with more than 76,000 deaths. China accounts for just 6 per cent of all cases, and 4.4 per cent of deaths. Yesterday, China reported no new deaths for the first time since January.

目前全球大約有136萬人確診新冠肺炎，其中多於7.6萬人死亡。中國只佔全部確診病例6%，死亡病例4.4%。昨天，中國自一月以來第一次通報沒有新增死亡病例。

Countries in the West, meanwhile, have gone into lockdown, hospitals have been overwhelmed and markets are crashing. There appears to be no clear end in sight for us here.

與此同時，西方各國進入了全面封鎖，醫院擠兌、市場崩潰。對在這裏的我們來說，疫情的盡頭還是看不到的。

Despite that, a group of ideologues already have their eyes on the post-pandemic world, and are concerned China may emerge as the new global superpower. As part of an effort to prevent this, these figures think other countries should hold China “accountable” for the pandemic, and are working to create popular demand among the public for this to happen.

儘管如此，一群意識形態操作者已經將目光放在疫情過後的世界，他們擔心中國將會成為新的全球超級大國。為了避免這種事態，這些人物認為各國應該要求中國為疫情「問責」，在努力地為此製造民意。

In his 1997 book Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism, political scientist Michael Parenti wrote, “In the United States, for over a hundred years, the ruling interests tirelessly propagated anticommunism among the populace, until it became more like a religious orthodoxy than a political analysis. During the Cold War, the anticommunist ideological framework could transform any data about existing communist societies into hostile evidence.”

政治學者邁克爾·帕倫蒂（Michael Parenti）在其1997年的著作《黑衫黨與赤色分子：理性的法西斯主義和共產主義的推翻》中寫道：「在美國，在長達過百年的時間裏，統治利益集團在民眾之中不眠不休地宣傳反共思想，達到了它與其說是一種政治分析、倒不如說更像宗教正統的地步。在冷戰期間，反共的意識形態框架可以把任何關於當年由共產黨執政的社會的資訊轉化為敵意的證據。」

We’re currently seeing that happen with China, from columnists, reporters and politicians alike. 

從各種專欄作家、記者和政客的言行之中，我們看到他們在對中國幹同樣的事情。

When the Chinese government had yet to put millions of people into lockdown, it was because they cared about their image more than fighting a pandemic. When they did enforce a lockdown, it wasn’t about fighting a pandemic, but a totalitarian move for more power.

當中國政府還未對千百萬人實行封鎖的時候，這被說成是出於他們與其積極抗疫、更在乎自己的形象。當中國政府真的實行封鎖後，這就與抗疫無關，而是獲取更多權力的極權主義手段。

When China was reporting hundreds of deaths a day, it was proof their government was incompetent because of just how bad the numbers were. When death counts dwindled, it was proof they were lying about numbers. 

當中國通報每日出現幾百名死亡病例的時候，糟糕的數字證明了中國政府的無能。當死亡病例逐漸減少的時候，這就是中國政府虛構數字的證據。

When global health organizations say anything remotely critical about China’s handling of the pandemic, it’s proof the country should be punished. When they say anything positive, it’s proof they were bought off by China.

當國際上各大衛生組織對於中國處理疫情發表任何稍有批評意思的言論時，這就是中國應當被懲罰的證據。當它們發表任何肯定中國的言論時，那就是它們已經被中國買通了的證據。

When China had yet to send aid to other countries, they were portrayed as cruel. When they did send aid, it was portrayed as a propaganda effort.

當中國還沒有向外國提供援助的時候，中國被描繪為殘忍的國家。當中國真的向外國提供援助的時候，這就被說成是宣傳攻勢。

When Chinese citizens complain about the government, it’s a sign the entire state is on the verge of collapse. When Chinese citizens praise the government, it’s evidence they’re being forced or brainwashed. 

當中國公民抱怨他們的政府的時候，這被說成是整個國家即將崩潰的徵象。當中國公民讚賞他們的政府的時候，這就是他們被強迫或洗腦的證據。

COVID-19 does appear to have originated in China, and so it makes sense, to an extent, that the country will be part of most conversations about the pandemic. However, this isn’t the reason these ideologues have focused so intently on China. Instead, it’s because of the ideological function their attacks serve. 

因為新冠肺炎顯然是源自中國的，因此在某程度上，在談論疫情時大多會提及中國。然而，這不是意識形態操作者們一心聚焦在中國的原因。他們關注的是反中宣傳的意識形態功能。

Those in power, or adjacent to power, in the West see their government failing to deal with COVID-19, but don’t want to shoulder any blame. So, instead of criticizing policies they adopted, or failed to adopt, they direct anger outward. 

那些在西方掌權或依附權力的人們，看到了他們的政府的抗疫失敗，但又不願意承擔任何責任。因此，與其批判自己推行了、又或者沒有推行什麼抗疫政策，他們更樂於將憤怒推向外部。

For example, on March 21 the Daily Beast reported they were given a leaked government cable that contained “guidelines for how [United States] officials should answer questions on, or speak about, the coronavirus and the White House’s response in relation to China.” Unsurprisingly, officials were told to blame China for the pandemic when giving statements or answering questions from the press. 

舉例說，美國網媒《Daily Beast》在3月21日報導，洩密者向他們提供了一份美國政府的電文，其中包括了「［美國］官員該如何回答或評論關於新冠病毒和白宮發表的與中國相關的回應的指導方針」。不出所料，這份指導方針要求美國官員在發言或回答傳媒問題時將疫情歸咎於中國。

Those who aren’t in power, such as rightwing journalists, realize their neoliberal ideology is unequipped to deal with the pandemic, and therefore is under attack. They won’t abandon their views, so they have to shift blame to an outside country with an ideology that is different in the right way. Attacking China clearly serves this purpose, and offers a chance for anti-communism, which, as Parenti notes, people have been primed to hate for more than a century. 

那些沒有掌權的新自由主義者們，例如右派記者們，知道他們的意識形態完全不能處理疫情並因此被抨擊。他們不會放棄自己的立場，便將責任轉移給一個在正確的方面與新自由主義意識形態不同的外國。攻擊中國一方面明確地為這種目的服務，也為反對共產主義創造機遇。正如帕倫蒂所指出，人們在長達超過一個世紀的時間裏，被培養了對共產主義的仇恨。

For example, Postmedia’s executive editor Kevin Libin wrote in a March 23 National Post article, “We will likely persevere, but what the world can no longer afford is the threat to our collective health and well-being that is the Chinese communist regime.”

舉例說，加拿大媒體集團Postmedia的執行編輯凱文·立彬（Kevin Libin）在其刊登在3月23日《民族郵報》（National Post）的文章中寫道：「我們應該是可以堅持下去的，但世界再不能承受在威脅我們的集體健康和幸福的中共政權。」

These attacks aren’t justified, and I will break down three of the more popular pieces of the anti-China narrative in the media to show the lies or half truths they’re built on. In order to ascertain what these pieces of the narrative are, I went through the pages of the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, the Toronto Sun and the Ottawa Citizen, and read through every opinion piece they published that focused on China and COVID-19, from January until early April. 

這些針對中國的攻擊是毫無道理的。我在下文將會拆解媒體上最常見的三種反中故事，揭露它們如何建立在謊言或半真半假的陳述之上。為了確定這些論述的組成部分，我讀遍了在從1月到4月初為止，在《多倫多星報》（Toronto Star）、《環球郵報》（Globe and Mail）、《民族郵報》（National Post）、《多倫多太陽報》（Toronto Sun）和《渥太華公民報》（Ottawa Citizen）上刊登的所有針對中國和新冠肺炎的評論文章。