By Scott Taylor
During this COVID-19 crisis we are repeatedly being warned to be on the lookout for Russian and Chinese disinformation.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned that we “must not let malign actors exploit the [COVID19] crisis for their own gain.” According to our security experts the Chinese and Russians are in fact using their global pandemic aid deliveries to improve their status within the world order. If that is indeed the case, then these Russians are Chinese strategists are truly diabolical.
Take for example the case of Italy which has been one of the hardest nations in the battle against COVID 19.
As the confirmed number of cases and death toll skyrocketed in early March, Russia, China and Cuba dispatched medical personnel and supplies to the northern province of Lombardy, which was essentially ground zero for the pandemic in Italy.
Italian politicians praised these three assisting nations and hailed them as ‘Allies’ in the war against COVID 19.
I found this to be a strange term to use since Italy is a NATO member and part of the European union. While fellow NATO member Germany did contribute considerable medical aid to Italy, other actual allies such as Canada and the U.K and the U.S. were busy preparing domestic resources to deal with the pandemic themselves.
As a result, a very hard pressed Italy accepted the necessary medical supplies from these three malign actors.
Whether this propaganda exercise will generate any long term Italian goodwill towards Russia, China and Cuba remains to be seen.
On the flip side of that has been Trump’s own attempts to exploit the COVID19 crisis for his America’s strategic gain. When the pandemic hit Iran and Venezuela hard the U.S. used their veto at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to deny these two malign actors emergency loans to help them cope with the health crisis. In the case of Venezuela Trump’s administration went one step further by issuing an indictment against President Nicolas Maduro. According to the U.S. charges, Maduro and his cronies are narco-terrorists who are implementing a scheme to destabilize America during the COVID19 crisis through widespread distribution of cheap cocaine. That is the plot line worth of an Austin Powers comedy movie.
However, further destabilizing the Maduro regime at the height of a health crisis while simultaneously denying them access to medical supplies does not bode well for the Venezuelan people.
Closer to home Canadians saw just where we stand in the eyes of Donald Trump when he ordered the 3M Corporation not to ship vital pre-purchased, protective masks and respirators to Canada. That export impasse was thankfully resolved at the corporate level, but not before Trump revealed his true isolationist colours.
As for the allegations of Chinese and Russian disinformation during the pandemic, one has to presume our security experts are telling the truth. It is also true that the majority of deliberate disinformation efforts uncovered to date have been from domestic organizations affiliated with far right and neo-Nazi fringe groups. Their messages are rife with anti-Semitism and racism aimed at provoking fear and distrust among Canadians.
However, by far the biggest and most dangerous source of disinformation has been none other than Donald Trump himself. When the outbreak first occurred in Wuhan, China Trump ignored the World Health Organizations warnings. Trump went so far as to call the virus a ‘hoax’ and ‘fake news ’s at public rallies. Trump also proclaimed that once the weather warmed up the coronavirus would simply ‘disappear…. like magic.’
Now that the U.S. has the dubious distinction of being the hardest hit nation on earth, Trump blames the WHO for failing to warn the world about COVID 19 and he has threatened to cut off their funding.
The reason for Trump wanting to cancel payments to the WHO is that he feels they are very “China-centric.” For the record, Trump’s statement was made the same week that China delivered 1,000 urgently required ventilators to hospitals in the State of New York.
Malign actors exploiting the crisis for their own gain indeed.
