RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.jns.org/opinion/coronavirus-and-the-threat-to-democracy/

 Weighing the threat to life posed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic against the extraordinary dangers it poses to the edifice, erected over centuries, that we call democracy is a difficult task. The COVID-19 virus appears poised to drive democracy to its knees; the only country in which the outbreak is subsiding at present is China, a ruthless dictatorship.

Many have expressed admiration and even awe regarding China’s ability to combat the outbreak, and indeed it would be useless to deny that the country’s strict quarantine measures—many of which violated its citizens’ human rights, and especially their right to privacy—contributed to its (partial) recovery.

Among the world’s democratic countries, so far only Israel and South Korea have enacted similarly draconian measures to combat the outbreak. Other Western countries, including Italy, Germany, France and Belgium are quickly moving to follow suit, but not without encountering resistance.

In Italy, for instance, Antonello Soro, the official in charge of the Italian Data Protection Authority, recently declared in an interview with the Huffington Post that containment measures must be “compatible with democratic principles” and said that “rights may be subject to limitations,” even incisive ones, “provided, of course” that they are “proportional.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-is-advancing-on-poor-nations-and-the-prognosis-is-troubling-11585149183

The new coronavirus is now taking off in the world’s poorest countries, which join the battle with even fewer weapons than developed nations, some of which have fumbled the pandemic’s early stages.

From Venezuela to Pakistan to the Democratic Republic of Congo—and nearly every developing country between—confirmed cases have started to spike in recent days, a sign the contagion is advancing exponentially, disease-control experts say.

“Extraordinary action is required if we are to prevent a human catastrophe of enormous proportions in our country,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, among the nations hardest hit by the 1980s AIDS epidemic. Addressing the country Monday night, he announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown to be enforced by the military.

South Africa on Wednesday declared 709 confirmed cases of coronavirus, a number the government said has risen sixfold in a week and could rise to hundreds of thousands without decisive action.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ordering a nationwide shutdown, said Tuesday in a televised address: “I appeal with folded hands, don’t come out of your homes.

China, where the outbreak began, had its powerful government to throw at the coronavirus, which across the globe as of Wednesday had infected more than 450,000 and left more than 20,000 dead with Covid-19, the disease the virus causes, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. South Korea could react quickly thanks in part a technologically sophisticated economy. And the West despite its struggles, has robust health-care systems, wealth and deep-rooted institutions to battle the contagion’s spread.

The world’s poorest areas—Africa, parts of Latin America, and Southeast and South Asia—start with few of those advantages. Their health-care systems and social mechanisms to fight the virus often aren’t just at risk of being overwhelmed, many join the epidemic already overwhelmed.

Number of confirmed cases around the world

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15292/germany-hate-postings-day

The Federal Police asked the German public to become informants and notify them about online hate speech….

In view of what Germany faces on the terrorism front, it seems an odd priority for the Federal Police to be hunting down online thought crimes in two nationwide “Action Days against Hate Postings” in one year alone….

In between online thought crimes and terrorists, the German police would seem to have their work cut out.

In Germany, police recently completed their fifth nationwide “Action Day against Hate Postings”.

German authorities initiated the action day more than three years ago; since then, it has been held once a year. According to the Federal Police, the number of recorded cases of hate crime linked to the internet has actually fallen — from 2,458 cases in 2017 to 1,962 in 2018.

Despite the decrease in cases, German authorities nevertheless decided to have not just one, but two action days this year. The first took place on June 6, when German authorities launched coordinated police raids in 13 federal states against suspects who had allegedly posted hate speech online. In a total of 38 cases, homes were searched and suspects interrogated, the Federal Criminal Police Office reported.

The second action day in 2019 took place on November 6, when the Federal Criminal Police Office in Wiesbaden, which coordinated the action, launched police operations in nine federal states — Hesse, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland and Saxony — against suspects believed to have posted hate speech online. In 21 cases, there were apartment searches or interrogations.

The decrease in online hate speech, however, is no cause for celebration, according to the Federal Police:

“Many criminally relevant posts are not displayed or are not made known to the security authorities as they are expressed in closed forums and discussion groups.”

Instead, the Federal Police asked the German public to become informants and notify them about online hate speech:

“Support us and contribute to the fight against hate crime: … Anyone who encounters hate postings on the net or becomes a victim should report this to the police. Some federal states have internet portals available for this purpose, through which anyone can also report such crimes anonymously. An overview of these online stations can be found at: www.bka.de/DE/KontaktAufnehmen/Strafanzeigen/strafanzeigen_node.html or on the Internet portal of the German police: www.polizei.de”.

Regarding hate postings, according to Federal Police, 80% of online hate crimes are “incitement to hate”, as well as “insult, coercion and threats”.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15802/britain-huawei-china

“China is trying to turn its health crisis into a geopolitical opportunity. It is launching a soft power campaign aimed at filling the vacuum left by the United States.” — Yu Jie, a senior research fellow at London’s Chatham House

China’s cynical attempts to use the coronavirus pandemic to its own advantage are not just deeply unethical: they should be taken as a warning that Beijing is not to be trusted, a lesson the West should take on board as it contemplates its future relationship with the Chinese, on trade and other issues such a 5G.

In Britain, for example, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision earlier this year to allow Huawei access to the country’s new 5G network was taken despite the fact that the country’s security services have long-regarded Huawei as a “high-risk vendor”.

Mr Johnson’s decision in favour of Huawei continuing its involvement in constructing the 5G network is said to have been influenced by threats from Beijing that Britain’s vital trading relationship with China would be adversely affected if Huawei was excluded.

China’s shameful attempt to exploit the coronavirus pandemic to further its own global ambitions should be seen as yet further evidence of the mounting threat Beijing poses to the West.

The blatant hypocrisy of China’s attempts to use the pandemic for its own ends should persuade countries such as Britain to undertake a fundamental reappraisal of their relationship with Beijing, especially when it comes to sensitive technological issues, such as allowing the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei access to the 5G network.

Far from being embarrassed that the rank incompetence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in dealing with the initial outbreak has resulted in the world suffering its worst public health crisis in a century, Beijing has instead embarked on a charm offensive aimed at providing support for affected countries.