A May 1 report of the United States’ Department of Homeland Security accuses China of “intentionally concealing the severity of the coronavirus outbreak” so that it could "stock up on medical supplies" – including face masks and surgical gowns – to fight the pandemic at home. This, even as the virus went out into the world and killed in the tens of thousands. The Americans also allege China held back data about human-to-human transmission of Covid-19 and refused to hand over live strains of the coronavirus to global health agencies which in turn delayed developing diagnostic and prevention methods.

For the record, China has not offered credible rebuttals to any of these allegations except vehemently denying them. The feeling in America and in its allies, especially Australia, is that China is being less than honest in telling the “truth.” What’s more, the Chinese committed the “mortal sin” of not being “truthful to themselves.” China has also been charged with “lying about the number of” coronavirus cases in China.

But all these are grist to the political mill in the United States as the Presidential election date approaches and election debate hots up. In the time of Covid-19, China fits the bill of “natural scapegoat” for both camps. That is because the public mood is such irrespective of party affiliation. The American people believes China is to blame for America’s Covid-19 miseries.

To tell the truth, China has become the focus of this Presidential election and the US voter is being asked to vote for the tougher of the two anti-China candidates, Trump or Biden? The Democrats’ presumptive candidate Joe Biden has a handicap because his son has considerable business interests in China while Trump goes into the fight as a diehard “China basher” who wouldn’t hesitate to go for broke fighting the Chinese. According to American media, over 70% Republican and over 60% Democrats wouldn’t miss the Chinese if they just up and vanished!

In fact, China-bashing comes easy for both parties. According to Pew Research Center, 66% of the American electorate has an unfavourable view of China. In 2017 it was 47%. The “get tougher on China” viewpoint agrees with the corona-battered American voter. There are other American grouses. Jobs lost to Chinese to factories closing shop and industries moving to China. Cyber-attacks to harm done to the environment. You name it and there’s an anti-China rhetoric to beat China with.

Covid-19 has only added to the rhetoric. POTUS Trump labelled corona “Chinese virus” and the Chinese bristled. But China failed to blunt the rhetoric with valid proof that corona did not originate in Wuhan. To top it all, laying the blame on the United States boomeranged. A recent “Harris poll” said that 77% of Americans believe Chinese President Xi Jinping is not telling the truth on the origin of the coronavirus.

And last week Trump, while replying to a question at an “election Townhall”, held that he had seen proof of Chinese hand behind the release of the coronavirus, adding that he will present the evidence “soon.” The day before the town-hall, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also blamed China and then Republican Senator Tom Cotton said the virus was deliberately released from a Wuhan lab to infect Chinese and world populations! However, the "intelligence community" of the United States does not agree that the virus was deliberately leaked. The "IC" says it was an "inadvertent mistake."

But some American analysts do not agree that the Chinese had a hand in the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. An American journalist has claimed that a US army reservist took the virus to the Military World Games held in Wuhan in October 2019. Now, China is asking for reservist Maatje Benassi’s health records. The Chinese allege the coronavirus escaped from a biological weapons lab at Fort Detrick in Maryland. The lab was shut down by the CDC in July 2019.

The Chinese want the US to come clean while accusing it of wasting precious time after being warned of Covid-19 as early as on January 3. This coincides with reports that the first Covid-19 deaths in the US were reported in early February and not in March. The February deaths were, according to these reports and the CDC, wrongly attributed to influenza or pneumonia.

‘So who is to blame?’ is the Presidential question. The majority of the American electorate is more or less convinced that China is the villain behind the coronavirus pandemic and that whichever candidate promises to act tougher on China will get the vote. But is that how it should be? Does the world’s most powerful man get elected in such a cavalier manner? Will he be the answer to such a simplistic question asked? Mind you, that answer will also decide the fate of a Bengaluru techie’s email password – Trump is King! (IPA Service)