President Donald Trump once again referred to the coronavirus as “the Chinese virus” in a briefing held today by the Coronavirus Task Force.
“Why do you keep calling this ‘the Chinese virus?’” Cecilia Vega, a White House correspondent for ABC News, asked.
Trump denied that it was racist and justified his answer by saying “because it comes from China.”
In yesterday’s briefing, a reporter told him that China and others criticized him for his choice of words and asked if he was “going to continue using that phrase.”
“Well, China was putting out information -which was false- that our military gave this to them,” Trump replied. “Rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China, so I think that’s a very accurate term, but no I didn’t appreciate the fact that China was saying that our military gave it to them.”
Here’s what the president is referring to:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/13/asia/china-coronavirus-us-lijian-zhao-intl-hnk/index.html
Although this conspiracy theory is a terrible accusation, it is quite wrong to fight fire with fire. The more Trump refers to it as a “Chinese virus,” the more division it will create. Right now, what this world needs to do is focus on unity and human kindness.
The president refers to the battle between COVID-19 and humanity as a “war.” Yes, I agree that this is a battle between the human race and a nasty "invisible enemy," but the last thing we need is a conflict in a conflict. There is enough racial tension in the world as it is. His choice of words may cause people to hate or give people an excuse to hate people of Chinese descent.
Yamiche Alcindor, a White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, re-sparked the question surrounding the term, “Chinese virus,” asking if he thinks that it “puts Asian Americans at risk" and that others “might target them.”
“No, not at all," Trump responded. "I think that they probably would agree with it a hundred percent. It comes from China.”
Jenny Han, a New York Times bestselling author of the book series, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, weighed in by tweeting, “Calling the Coronavirus the Chinese virus stokes hate and blame towards Asian faces. I don’t understand why people need to call it that so badly when it puts others in danger. It takes zero effort to call it something else, so pls just do that.”
We are all human beings, and human beings make mistakes. It was wrong for the Chinese official to promote this conspiracy theory, and I can’t say I agree with calling the coronavirus “the Chinese virus.”
We, as individuals, are all in the same boat, no matter what ethnicity, social class, religion, or sexuality...so please, the last thing we need is a battle within a battle. We all hate the coronavirus, but developing a reason for humans to hate other humans? No.
“Why do you keep calling this ‘the Chinese virus?’” Cecilia Vega, a White House correspondent for ABC News, asked.
Trump denied that it was racist and justified his answer by saying “because it comes from China.”
In yesterday’s briefing, a reporter told him that China and others criticized him for his choice of words and asked if he was “going to continue using that phrase.”
“Well, China was putting out information -which was false- that our military gave this to them,” Trump replied. “Rather than having an argument, I said I have to call it where it came from. It did come from China, so I think that’s a very accurate term, but no I didn’t appreciate the fact that China was saying that our military gave it to them.”
Here’s what the president is referring to:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/13/asia/china-coronavirus-us-lijian-zhao-intl-hnk/index.html
Although this conspiracy theory is a terrible accusation, it is quite wrong to fight fire with fire. The more Trump refers to it as a “Chinese virus,” the more division it will create. Right now, what this world needs to do is focus on unity and human kindness.
The president refers to the battle between COVID-19 and humanity as a “war.” Yes, I agree that this is a battle between the human race and a nasty "invisible enemy," but the last thing we need is a conflict in a conflict. There is enough racial tension in the world as it is. His choice of words may cause people to hate or give people an excuse to hate people of Chinese descent.
Yamiche Alcindor, a White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, re-sparked the question surrounding the term, “Chinese virus,” asking if he thinks that it “puts Asian Americans at risk" and that others “might target them.”
“No, not at all," Trump responded. "I think that they probably would agree with it a hundred percent. It comes from China.”
Jenny Han, a New York Times bestselling author of the book series, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, weighed in by tweeting, “Calling the Coronavirus the Chinese virus stokes hate and blame towards Asian faces. I don’t understand why people need to call it that so badly when it puts others in danger. It takes zero effort to call it something else, so pls just do that.”
We are all human beings, and human beings make mistakes. It was wrong for the Chinese official to promote this conspiracy theory, and I can’t say I agree with calling the coronavirus “the Chinese virus.”
We, as individuals, are all in the same boat, no matter what ethnicity, social class, religion, or sexuality...so please, the last thing we need is a battle within a battle. We all hate the coronavirus, but developing a reason for humans to hate other humans? No.
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