Coronavirus response, a chance to restore Western greatness

Most Western countries are currently involved in a political debate and mutual guiltyness, on leaders who reacted adequately to the pandemic, and those who failed in the face of the current crisis. But both populist and globalists are threatened by the same virus that came from Vuhan.

From Justin Trudo to Boris Johnson, the virus has caused chaos, which poses a challenge for all liberal democracies and market economies. However, while party politics as normal in a democracy become part of the political debate, there should be no doubt about the true culprits of this pandemic.

As Paul Miller most rightly says, XIXI Jinping did not create the virus, but his government is directly responsible for its global spread, and for its terrible consequences on people and economies worldwide” If the authorities in China had acted the way when the disease was first identified since mid-November 2019 it could have been located in Hubei, and the pandemic could have stopped, or at least it would have been severely restricted.

On the other hand, the hero doctor Dr. Lee Wenliang was stumbled by the oppressive regime to alert the world. And because of the steel hand of the Chinese Communist Party over its citizens, we

Now we have nothing but to count the dead: thank you, Xi friend.

We've got some goods from Chinese communism. The need to overcome the coronavirus is an alarm bell to face the Chinese challenge, and this will require a wide revision of Western aspirations and the role of the states-national to achieve them.

Are we currently up to duty? Unfortunately, the G7 failed to come up with a joint statement on March 25th, due to its inability to agree with American President Trump on naming “the Vuhanus”. Many European leaders remain hostage to China, and refuse to point to the finger of guilt despite years of forced technology transfers, spying through Huauei, despite the corruption of Western universities, despite the persecution of the glass, and now despite the Coronavirus.

In the face of the many deaths caused by the virus from Vuhan, it is now time for Europe to join Washington to address the biggest problem named “globalisation”. The problem is called the Chineseification of the world: a programmed global hegemony transfer to China.

Like the United States and Europe, they differ in their willingness to face China, and they also discern their answers to economic challenges. American institutions have acted with courage and determination. The Federal Reserve, on March 23rd, undertook radical measures of a huge quantitative relief.

And Congress approved a $2 trillion bipartisan plan to combat the severe economic crisis. Even in a deeply divided country, against the policy of impeachment and electoral year, the Democrats and Republicans were able to agree on a bold programme on behalf of their common concern over the endangered national interest.

This crisis is also an opportunity for the West to regain its former greatness: defeat the virus, and face China that sent it to us. The European response has been less drastic. On at least monetary terms, the European Central Bank (ECB) recognised the urgency of the situation, and a 750 billion-euro stimulus programme announced on March 18th. After the paralysis of the 2008 financial crisis, The ECB has learned several lectures, although it remains much more cautious than the US Federal Reserve, which is a reflection of its most limited mandate.

In a fiscal aspect, however, the European Council has proved unfortunately unable to give the crisis an effective response, even though “Goldman Sachs” predicts a recession of -9 per cent in the eurozone this year. Italy, Spain and France will suffer the most serious consequences.

But the European Union, due to the fiscal conservativeism of some North European countries, has again refused to support its members, thanks to its permanent “less and less” strategy. We must expect unemployment, especially in southern Europe, to grow dramatically.

Europeans must understand that they should not expect salvation from the European Union, which clearly cannot be compared to the stimulating package that President Trump signed on March 27th.

On the contrary, if they want to curb the economic drama that is unfolding before our eyes, they must act at the level of their national states. It's the nation, not the EU, the right tool to address this existential crisis. The indifference of the Dutch and Germans to the economic crisis in Italy is nothing new.

European states, they must forget every illusion that European institutions will come to their aid.

Even the ECB does not need “eobonot” or “orona-bond” to act. Since its quantitative relief program has been designed to buy national debts.

France, Spain and Italy, must understand how late their continuing weakness is a symptom of European crisis management. And they don't have the luxury to waste another decade. Recognition of the role of the sovereign state is not a nostalment for a distant past.

After World War II, the brilliant success of the West was achieved precisely through the co-operation of states-national, and not by weakening their power, or their submission to a post-nationalist bureaucracy.

The Vuhan virus crisis makes clear the necessity of the national state, once again seen in the worst possible way which is actually “solidarity” European. Border control, public health strategy and economic stimulus must be addressed at the national level.

Brussels will only be late and will eventually disappoint. The contrast with American policies to this crisis is very obvious. However, the crisis is already an opportunity for the West to become once grand again: to defeat the virus, and face China that sent it to us.

And achieving this greatness requires a co-ordination between Western nations, within Europe and across the Atlantic. It is time to design and adopt programmes, which courageously promote the welfare of the middle class through an expansionist and fiscal monetary policy. This could bring to Europe what President Trump called “bum of blue collar”, through investment programmes and full employment.

This is the opposite of globalism, which exported prosperity and jobs to China. On the contrary, we must remove our supply chains, from the dependence we currently have on a communist dictatorship, follow internal policies that encourage economic growth from which the entire society benefits, and accept that it is the force of our national states, that will enable each country, and the West as a whole, to become once more magnificent as once. Chaptering China is not an option at all.