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| 2020 Annual Press Freedom Index Map: China ranks 177 out of 180 |
According to the 2020 annual press freedom index, China stands out internationally as a severely substandard country in terms of freedom of the media: China ranks 177th out of 180 countries.
In the past, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a worldwide organization that promotes the universal right to freedom of information, has frequently criticized the Communist Party of China (CPC) for censorship and surveillance of press. With the exacerbating CoronaVirus crisis, RSF's disapprobation only sharpens; the group believes that the CPC's iron grip on the press threatens not only Chinese citizens, but the people across the world.
The RSF's UK bureau director Rebecca Vincent points to the CPC's censorship of early CoronaVirus outbreak coverage as the reason that the virus escalated into a pandemic. Notably, at the end of 2019, Dr. Li Wenliang and other doctors in Wuhan attempted to warn about CoronaVirus, but Chinese authorities silenced them.
The CPC's lack of transparency about the true origin and extent of CoronaVirus prevented other countries from imposing travel restrictions, coordinating testing, installing tracing measures, and initiating research for treatment earlier. An earlier response would have spared countries globally from as immense of a death toll, economic staggering, interrupted student education, etc. Misinformation from China impairs governments' and scientists' understanding of CoronaVirus and, therefore, the ability of countries to combat the global issue.
Referred from https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-04-21-20-intl/index.html
Questions for Discussion:
1) Should the Community Party of China be forced to take responsbility for allowing CoronaVirus to spread extensively and/or have to pay reparations to other countries, even if this may mean war?
2) Despite CoronaVirus, do you think China will be able to sustain its integral role in the global economy? Why or why not?
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