• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

How should the world make China pay for Coronavirus?

Status
Not open for further replies.

nidave

Member
Joined
12 Jul 2011
Messages
923
Tariffs? Sanctions? Maybe by replacing China with Taiwan at the U.N?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

nidave

Member
Joined
12 Jul 2011
Messages
923
Is this even serious?
Yes, more and more is coming out of China suggesting that at the very minimum, the CCP have been covering up. This keeps on happening, disease after disease pop up out of China, dating back to the Black Death, something needs to change to make sure this doesn't happen again...
 

nedchester

Established Member
Joined
28 May 2008
Messages
2,093
Yes, more and more is coming out of China suggesting that at the very minimum, the CCP have been covering up. This keeps on happening, disease after disease pop up out of China, dating back to the Black Death, something needs to change to make sure this doesn't happen again...

I suspect you are not an expert on world economics.............
 

nedchester

Established Member
Joined
28 May 2008
Messages
2,093
Who says i am? I'm just asking a question...
But trying to punish one of the largest(and growing) economic powerhouses for some they might not have been able to do anything about isn't going to work.

Many things we use every day are made in China and that isn't going to change anytime soon.
 

scotrail158713

Established Member
Joined
30 Jan 2019
Messages
1,797
Location
Dundee
I think we’d seriously need some substantial evidence first to prove it was China before we do anything like that
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
Certainly all Western countries should at some stage join Australia's call for a full and independant investigation into the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the virus. Beijing has been strenuously resisting this.
 

kieron

Established Member
Joined
22 Mar 2012
Messages
3,048
Location
Connah's Quay
Sadly, a number of countries have elected very divisive people to high office. Perhaps "the world" will be able to do something about your concerns once some of them have left the international stage.
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
There are divisive people and divisive issues, however all countries have a pressing interest to get to the bottom of this issue.
 

3141

Established Member
Joined
1 Apr 2012
Messages
1,771
Location
Whitchurch, Hampshire
Yes, more and more is coming out of China suggesting that at the very minimum, the CCP have been covering up. This keeps on happening, disease after disease pop up out of China, dating back to the Black Death, something needs to change to make sure this doesn't happen again...

Are you suggesting that there's something deliberate about all this, starting with the Black Death, and that the later cases could have been prevented had action been taken earlier?

Quite possibly the Chinese Communist Party has been covering up something. Depends what that something is whether anything can be done about it.

If the virus did indeed originate in bats, and crossed over into humans, there isn't much that can prevent such things happening again.

I think your position is unrealistic, and that's putting it mildly.
 

Welly

Member
Joined
15 Nov 2013
Messages
498
Last time a major nation was made a scapegoat for a global castastrophe did not end well for the whole world 20 years later so be very careful what you wish for!
 

lyndhurst25

Established Member
Joined
26 Nov 2010
Messages
1,406
Tariffs? Sanctions? Maybe by replacing China with Taiwan at the U.N?

Has the USA been made to pay for their lack of regulation in the subprime mortgage market causing the 2007-8 financial crisis? What about Iceland's lack of volcano monitoring and warning over the 2011 volcanic ash incident that shut down much of commercial aviation? Just because something originated in a certain country, doesn't mean that their government is liable for all it's consequences, or even if they were, that they would pay up.

China has suffered a great deal from the virus too, so I am sure they will be taking all possible steps to prevent something similar happening again in the future. Even if the Chinese authorities were slow at disclosing events to other nations, how do you think that the UK government for example would have reacted differently had we been told about the new virus any sooner than we were?
 

kieron

Established Member
Joined
22 Mar 2012
Messages
3,048
Location
Connah's Quay
There are divisive people and divisive issues, however all countries have a pressing interest to get to the bottom of this issue.
I think countries each have to work out what they do in response to the disease. I don't see how trying to "make China pay" will prevent anyone from becoming infected, or reduce the amount of suffering which results from this. It can wait.

Leaving "the world" to one side, the UK will do nothing now. It needs China's help now, and the government will start trying to discuss a trade deal with them soon enough.
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
I think countries each have to work out what they do in response to the disease. I don't see how trying to "make China pay" will prevent anyone from becoming infected, or reduce the amount of suffering which results from this. It can wait.

Leaving "the world" to one side, the UK will do nothing now. It needs China's help now, and the government will start trying to discuss a trade deal with them soon enough.

As I say in my post, we do need an independant investiation into the origins of the virus. I don't know if that counts as "making China pay" but Beijing certainly doesn't seem to want it.
 

philosopher

Established Member
Joined
23 Sep 2015
Messages
1,346
I think it would be wrong to punish China as already mentioned blaming Germany for World War One did not work out too well, to put it mildly. But I do think since it seems the virus originated in a live animal wet market, which also appeared to be the case with SARS nearly 20 years ago, I think it is reasonable to ask questions on why China let these wet markets continue.
 

Aictos

Established Member
Joined
28 Apr 2009
Messages
10,403
I think we’d seriously need some substantial evidence first to prove it was China before we do anything like that

Well seeing as China deliberately tried to cover up the virus outbreak, I feel it's only fair that they are held solely responsible for the outbreak.

Indeed when the doctor who first discovered it had tried to warn his fellow medical professionals, the first reaction of China was to not to ask for assistance from the worldwide community and potentially carry out actions to contain the virus but to send police around and force him to sign a document accusing him of spreading lies and disturbing the social order.


The fact that the worldwide community offered their assistance THREE times which was refused by China before China decided to accept the help is not the sign of a helpless country.


Even going as far as blaming the US for a virus outbreak that their OWN doctors tried to warn them about.


As to the economy, well it might have escaped some people's notice but there is a country called Taiwan near China and I'm sure they be only too happy to agree to trade deals in return for official recognition in the international community.

China needs the world more then we need it because there's other countries who would be happy to produce the goods we need.

The very least that China should do is offer a public apology not only to its doctors that it silenced but to the world for
 

Darandio

Established Member
Joined
24 Feb 2007
Messages
10,674
Location
Redcar
It's only a couple of weeks ago that the OP created another thread and questioned why the Japanese hadn't been sanctioned/punished for World War 2. Today it's the Chinese, it makes me wonder which Asian nation will be the subject of their next thread......
 

NorthOxonian

Established Member
Associate Staff
Buses & Coaches
Joined
5 Jul 2018
Messages
1,483
Location
Oxford/Newcastle
I don't think there's much that can or should be done on an international scale. The Chinese economy is simply too powerful and they have too much influence over global affairs for anyone to do anything more than a slap on the wrist.

But on a personal level, I'll be making a conscious effort going forward to avoid buying anything made in China, difficult though that is. Obviously there's essentially nothing any one person can do, but if enough people start to boycott Chinese products, it might have a small impact.
 

nidave

Member
Joined
12 Jul 2011
Messages
923
It's only a couple of weeks ago that the OP created another thread and questioned why the Japanese hadn't been sanctioned/punished for World War 2. Today it's the Chinese, it makes me wonder which Asian nation will be the subject of their next thread......
I do have an interest in Asian affairs, but not for any nefarious reasons (my father is from Singapore)
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
Setting aside arguments about "making China pay" for a moment, the economic power that China has amassed is undoubtedly a problem and to a large extent it has us, and most Western countries over a barrel. My views on outsoucing manufacturing are well rehearsed on here, but if we must rely on cheap imports from abroad for some things, is there not a good argument for our own sake, for making a real effort to diversify our import base ? there must be lots of other countries with lower costs that can manufacture goods.
 

GRALISTAIR

Established Member
Joined
11 Apr 2012
Messages
7,806
Location
Dalton GA USA & Preston Lancs
If the US and other nations carry out their threat to bring certain essential supply chains such as PPE and pharmaceuticals and other stuff back to their respective countries that will punish China enough.
 

kieron

Established Member
Joined
22 Mar 2012
Messages
3,048
Location
Connah's Quay
As I say in my post, we do need an independant investiation into the origins of the virus. I don't know if that counts as "making China pay" but Beijing certainly doesn't seem to want it.
Scientists seem to know quite a lot about how the outbreak started as it is, and research is continuing today. What benefit do you think an "independent investigation" would bring?
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
Scientists seem to know quite a lot about how the outbreak started as it is, and research is continuing today. What benefit do you think an "independent investigation" would bring?

Any element of reasonable doubt about the viruses origins will make it easier for China to procrastinate in removing the circumstances that enabled it to jump species to humans in the first place.

The real question should be, why would anyone not want to know the full circumstances of the emergence of the virus ?
 

LNW-GW Joint

Veteran Member
Joined
22 Feb 2011
Messages
19,555
Location
Mold, Clwyd
Well seeing as China deliberately tried to cover up the virus outbreak, I feel it's only fair that they are held solely responsible for the outbreak.

Well, shall we blame the US for the ills of globalisation, or ourselves for the slave trade and the evils of colonialism?
There's plenty to do to clear up our own mess of virus mis-management before blaming others.
Our archives are full of the government denying things which later turn out to be true.
In WW1 we suppressed information about the flu pandemic as it "would have damaged morale".
 
Last edited:

delt1c

Established Member
Joined
4 Apr 2008
Messages
2,125
Surely to early to point any fingers at nations over this. All energy needs to used to find a vaccine, which is no easy task due to the speed at which this virus can mutate.
 

Camden

Established Member
Joined
30 Dec 2014
Messages
1,949
As a global supplier, China will already be paying heavily due to reduced global economic activity.

I don't consider that "paying a price" comes into it, but the conduct and occurrence needs to be examined, and there may be something to be said for reducing our dependence on them as suppliers, both out of self preservation and potentially in requiring change.

However, the potential of their "customers" doing just that might give some insight into why they've been spending so much time and attention on building binding relationships with African nations, from where so much valuable raw materials originate.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top