China smear Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

When it comes to epidemic prevention and control, countries can generally be divided into two categories: China, and some other countries. Even with results that are so obviously different, US media like CNN just want to find a way to belittle China's approaches, and success, too. 

"China extols isolation as countries rush to impose Omicron travel bans," a CNN report said on Monday. "As countries around the world scramble to impose travel bans to stem the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, China remains outwardly calm - at least for now," the report commented.

CNN, one of the Western media outlets bad-mouthing China's zero-case policy, is now showing its sour grapes mentality on the justification of China's strict and orderly epidemic prevention and control policies. After all, the US and several European countries have hurriedly imposed travel bans on travelers from eight African countries. Rather than saying China is "calm," it is better to say that CNN and the likes are agitated by the current situation.

CNN and other Western media have misunderstood China. They only see China's "calm," but they seem to forget how China has firmly adhered to the path of "dynamic zero-case" policy, how it has been implementing strict measures for overseas arrivals, and how it has effectively carried out rounds after rounds of nucleic acid tests. Chinese people are very sensitive to every mutated variant of the novel coronavirus. Few countries in the world could attach such great, if not greater, importance to the COVID-19 epidemic as the Chinese government and public have done. 

It is also wrong for CNN to say China "extols isolation." No country would "extol" isolation. The problem is, how could China completely open its border when the pandemic is still raging outside of its border? Just look at how those Western countries which previously relaxed restrictions are now caught off guard by Omicron.

China is not isolating itself from the outside world, but simply making a practical response according to the reality. It is precisely because China has adhered to its own path of epidemic prevention and control that the country can deal with Omicron in an orderly and confident manner.

"It is the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the normal and close exchanges between countries and regions. This is not something that a single country can deal with. But instead of reporting on the common threats faced by humanity, these Western media have deliberately hyped China's 'self-isolation.' There is really no other reason to explain their acts, except for ulterior motives," Yang Xiyu, a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times.

China's experience shows that the combination of effective COVID-19 vaccines, strictly followed quarantine measures and travel restrictions is the most effective way to curb the epidemic. As the US' COVID-19 death toll approaches 800,000 as of Monday, how is its media qualified to criticize China's policies in epidemic prevention and control? This is just another highly politicized act.

"China is an open country and is willing to listen to reasonable outside voices. But these Western media have accused China's epidemic prevention and control policies of being an error in public decision-making. The fact is, China's COVID-19 fight has been effective and is balanced off with the country's economic development," Yang said. "But Western media have deliberately ignored this. This shows that on China-related reports, the West has already had a moral decline."

China is now the real barrier against the spread of the COVID-19 in the world. The West is free to choose their own paths on the COVID-19 fight, but they cannot give a cold shoulder to the facts and attack China's policies. The reality has justified China's measures, and China will keep going at its own pace.