Photo: IC

Derek Scissors, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, published research on April 7, estimating that "the number of COVID-19 cases in China outside Hubei Province had reached 2.9 million." Compared with the real data - about 15,000 outside Hubei and slightly more than 82,000 in all of China, his conclusion is outrageous.  

He applies "figures for migrants' infection rate and time in circulation before national lockdown" of other countries, such as South Korea and Italy, and draws a conclusion that a large number of people in China had contracted the virus prior to Wuhan's lockdown.

But what's ridiculous is that Scissors is a scholar focusing on "the Chinese and Indian economies and US economic relations with Asia." How much does an economist know about a virus transmission source and routes in the early days? Has he studied China's specific situation at that point? His estimate is only based on his supposition and has no credibility.

The rhetoric accusing China of hiding the truth has already become a cliché. These so-called experts in the US, such as Scissors, always presume that China is wrong or unreliable, and then try hard to prove the presupposed conclusion with ambiguous evidence and perverted logic. They are used to pinning their eyes on fictional stories about China, but few are willing to learn about what is really happening in the country. 

While reporting on Scissors' research, Radio Free Asia, a US government-funded news agency, comments - with an ironic tone - that it would be a miracle if the COVID-19 data provided by the Chinese government were true. 

For the US, a country which has let the epidemic spin out of control despite clear warnings sent by China, China's anti-virus fight is indeed a miracle. But for China itself, the outcome appears absolutely normal and deserved in view of the government's strong sense of responsibility for people's lives, the governing system's great ability of mobilization and the Chinese people's firm willingness to support all containment measures. Nowhere could this work as it works in China and so applying any country's models to China makes no sense. 

China has been working miracles over the past decades thanks to the tremendous efforts of both the government and the people. Since reform and opening-up, China has grown to become the world's second largest economy rapidly and lifted hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty. Perhaps to the US, all this is unconvincing and should be regarded as "miracles."

They might need to reflect on themselves. China is developing and so should mentality of some US scholars. They should shake off their inherent and outdated prejudices against China and stop taking their own imagination as reality.

Their lack of understanding and trust of China, which stems from prejudices and arrogance, has already adversely affected the US itself - such as the US administration's failure to take timely measures in coping with the virus. Thus, it is time for the US to accept the fact: China is indeed working miracles, and will certainly do more. Realizing this reality will benefit the US itself and China-US relations.