Photo taken on May 28, 2021 shows the US Capitol building behind traffic lights in Washington, DC, the United States.Photo: Xinhua

Gordon Chang, a so-called China hand who is infamous for his "coming collapse of China" prediction, recently published an article in a Washington-based media outlet - 19FortyFive, claiming that "the Delta variant could end" the Communist Party of China (CPC). He wrote, "Delta, as a result, is now killing off the triumphalism of the Communist Party… A nationwide spread of the disease is a potentially existential threat to the Party."

The Delta variant of COVID-19 is now raging across the world, posing a severe challenge to nearly every country, including China. The Chinese mainland on Friday reported 124 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, the highest daily total in this new outbreak. Yet the situation in the US is much worse. According to CNN, the US averaged more than 107,140 new daily cases over a week as of Friday - the first time that average was higher than 100,000 since February. 

According to Chang's logic, to which country has the Delta posed a heavier threat - China, or the US? If there is a government that the Delta would end, shouldn't the current US administration be more worried?

Chang's article described China's new practices in imposing travel restrictions and quarantine orders to contain the spread of the Delta variant as "various forms of lockdown," and smeared them as "totalitarian brute-force measures." This is obviously biased. 

Strictly restricting the personnel flows of residents especially those in medium- and high-risk areas for COVID-19 is an important means to prevent the spread of the disease. This embodies the CPC-led Chinese government's strong sense of responsibility for the public's lives and safety. Contrary to what Chang advocates, the fight against COVID-19, including the latest one against the Delta variant, has ramped up the Chinese public's support for the CPC. 

Ironically, the military of Australia, a US' close ally, on August 2 began helping to enforce COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney. This must be a "totalitarian brute-force" step according to Chang's logic in criticizing China. But he said nothing about Australia. It can be seen that his slander of China is totally out of political prejudice.

Chang has repeatedly predicted of China's upcoming collapse since 2001. Anyone with sufficient knowledge of China will not come up with such a naïve view. For two decades, these predictions have been constantly turned out to be wrong. "The reason he can still express such views in US media outlets is largely because his smear on China's political system and ideology caters to the US' political correctness, rather than the US' mainstream political elite shares his view," Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.

"Chang's 'collapse of China' theory is clearly not in line with the Biden administration's hard-line stance toward China. If the US agreed that China would collapse, the country would not have underlined confrontations with China nor seen China as its top rival", said Li, noting Chang repeatedly making such noise is to ensure he receives constant attention from the US media."

Chang has been "deceiving" and misleading the US politicians and public, preventing them to have an objective understanding on China. They unrealistically believe that China's politics and society will become "Americanized." And once the situation does not occur, they are reluctant to admit their mistakes, but adhere to their prior judgment. This has resulted in their repeated misjudgment.