The Chinese consul to India Zha Liyou on Thursday took an indirect dig at Western countries for faring low in the COVID-19 responses from citizens, as per a global survey based on citizens’ reactions, while hailing India and China for their policies in combating the virus.
In a survey conducted by Singapore's social research agency Blackbox Research and international online panel specialist Toluna, China tops the crisis management during COVID-19 with an index score of 85, Vietnam is second at 77, while the UAE and India share third spot at 59.
“Meanwhile, New Zealand with index score of 56 is the only Western country to have scored higher than the global average of 45,” the survey says while indicating citizens in Western countries are generally less satisfied with their governments' performance.
US President Donald Trump has been targeting China and accusing the Asian country of letting the virus spread across the world, which is believed to have erupted in the city of Wuhan. The US has also accused China of trying to steal the US research into vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.
However, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday: “A word of advice to those in the US: Don't get too deep in the show to lose sight of reality. These US politicians should focus their attention and energy on fighting the outbreak and protecting American people, do what they are supposed to do and contribute constructively to the global cooperation against COVID-19, instead of racking their brains to distract attention and deflect responsibility”.
Lijian was speaking about the US Republican Senators’ proposal of a new legislation giving US executive authorities the power to slap sanctions on China if it does not give a full account of the coronavirus outbreak or close all wet markets.
The Toluna-Blackbox Index of Global Crisis Perceptions measured the sentiments of citizens from 23 countries toward their national COVID-19 crisis management efforts based on four indicators: national political leadership, corporate leadership, community and media.