Workers make ambulance at the manufacturing base of the Brilliance Auto company in Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Feb. 3, 2020. In recent days, the company has rushed to produce negative pressure ambulances for the fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic. The production of the first batch of 10 negative pressure ambulances will be completed on Feb. 5 and then put into use. (Xinhua/Pan Yulong)

Uncertainty remains over the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, but one prediction that has since been verified is how the epidemic has revitalized the chorus of foreign officials, experts, and reporters in their relentless push of conspiracy theories regarding the collapse of China and its economy, or in short, "China doomers."

The majority of what this foreign chorus sings consists of old songs on how the impending collapse of the Chinese economy will happen as a result of the country's political and economic systems. 

How they will find their places on the stage after their "China collapse" theories are proven wrong once again is beyond imagination. To their credit, they never fail to surprise and shock with their latest fearmongering rhetoric, "evidence," and "context" created for the purposes of attracting attention they desperately crave.

Entering this arena is Walter Russel Mead, a professor at Bard College in New York. Mead, a well-documented China doomer, recently wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal that featured the extreme headline: "China is the real sick man of Asia."

For those unaware of the historical background of the phrase "sick man of Asia," it reflects what Japanese imperialists used to refer to the country before and during its invasion of China.

Using this phrase sickens the Chinese to the stomach, especially during such a sensitive period where China is racing to save lives from the coronavirus.

As expected, other than the deeply insensitive headline, Mead's article features familiar and baseless criticism on China, and filled with over-the-top predictions on the country's demise. 

Mead argues the coronavirus outbreak reveals China's brittleness and how the country's financial market and economy is teetering on the brink of collapse. The piece also mentions how the fall will impact the global economy and international community. Mead fails to offer data or evidence to support his theories and instead offers only empty and yet serious words.

To be blunt, refuting such a hatchet job of this magnitude written by a silly media puppet desperate for attention would be a waste of time. But Mead has now joined foreign officials like US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, along with experts and media in their attack against China during this sensitive time. Their true purpose is to weaken China and its economy. Concerted efforts of this nature must not remain unchecked.

Indeed, there have been loopholes revealed in wake of the epidemic and the economy will take a few hits.  China, which has alleviated over 800 million people from poverty and improved in the 70 years since it was founded and with 2.5 times of the US population, it will not abandon its true course due to short-term hardships. 

The Chinese economy, which rose from almost nothing to the world's second-largest economy with a GDP of roughly $27.31 trillion in 2019 and contributed 30 percent to global GDP growth, will not fall.

If any evidence is needed, look at how China continued to rise after the SARS epidemic in 2003, which also brought the country to a near standstill. The country continued climbing after a devastating earthquake in Southwest China's Sichuan in 2008, when the world faced a global financial crisis caused by, as we later found out, the corrupt US financial system.

In 70 years, China has faced its share of hardships, but with each time it grew stronger. It is precisely the Chinese system that lifted the country where it is today. There is no reason to believe this time will be different.

In fact, positive signs have already emerged for the economy, though the fight against the virus continues. Since Mead's article on Monday, Chinese stock markets have rebounded, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining 5.44 percent so far this week. Some businesses are also poised to resume operations as early as next week.

Once the dust settles and everything returns to normal, China doomer predictions will become once again a global laughing stock. They are unlikely to stop making up new things just to badmouth China, but rest assured the Chinese economy won't stop moving forward.