It could get bad if Africa is the next epicenter of the Wuhan Flu:
Africa could become the next epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.
UN officials also say it is likely the pandemic will kill at least 300,000 people in Africa and push nearly 30 million into poverty.
The past week in Africa has seen a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.
I guess a slight genetic resistance among Africans and warmer climates may not be the protective shields that once seemed plausible. I hope we are prepared to get our now excess ventilators to Africa in a hurry to meet the hospitalization surges.
Boom:
Africa was supposed to be China’s new stomping grounds. Instead, the novel coronavirus has spawned a growing backlash that threatens to unwind the ties Beijing has carefully cultivated over decades.
The trigger for the burgeoning diplomatic crisis: Anger over the treatment of African citizens living in China and frustration at Beijing’s position on granting debt relief to fight against the outbreak. ...
[China's] decadeslong quest for influence in Africa was gravely challenged last week when a group of disgruntled African ambassadors in Beijing wrote to Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi to complain that citizens from Togo, Nigeria and Benin living in Guangzhou, southern China, were evicted from their homes and made to undergo obligatory testing for Covid-19.
I did wonder about this issue:
A lot of poor countries have accepted China's offer of loans and construction to be part of China's ambitious project to build Chinese-controlled trade routes. They are extremely vulnerable to the virus raging out of control once it hits them. Will China be the one to help them cope with this epidemic?
I hope this is contained--and soon. But if it isn't how many countries will be eager to invite China into their country going forward? Or even allow them to stay? This would be a convenient excuse for countries having second thoughts about the wisdom of the debt trap they signed up for.
Although I did not suspect the open displays of Chinese racism that would bounce the rubble in Africa.
Will the money that China can spread around be quite as appealing after the Wuhan Flu passes?
Probably. The article's author certainly concludes that. But some damage will likely endure.
