Boris Johnson, March 3rd:
"I congratulate the Chinese authorities on the speed with which they posted the news of an outbreak that has had serious international implications".
Boris Johnson, one month later, having realized how much his government has cocked up in its response to the virus, and not wanting to be blamed for lots of deaths:
"Blame China for everything!".
Western governments, that downplayed the seriousness of Coronavirus for months, now blame China for covering it up when it first broke out - before recognizing and responding to it, and gaining praise from the World Health Organization.
Seems to me that Chinese authorities do deserve scrutiny for their initial response, but the hypocrisy here is obscene.
Whatever happened in China initially, many western governments ignored advice and warnings, from Chinese scientists and the W.H.O., for months. They effectively covered it up, when they should have begun preparing. And this will lead to many more deaths. So their only options now are to either accept culpability - never going to happen - or to lay the blame elsewhere.
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