04/05/2020 Myanmar (International Christian Concern) – One of Asia’s top prelates has laid blame on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), calling it “morally culpable” for initially covering up the full dangers of the COVID-19 virus, which originated in Wuhan, China.
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, criticizes the CCP and its leader for the disaster they have created. “The Chinese regime led by the all-powerful [Chinese President Xi Jinping] and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – not its people – owes us all an apology, and compensation for the destruction it has caused.”
In a statement released to journalists on April 1, the cardinal wrote, “At a minimum it should write off the debts of other countries, to cover the cost of COVID-19. For the sake of our common humanity, we must not be afraid to hold this regime to account.”
He added that although many governments failed to prepare for the coronavirus when the first reports of the disease emerged from Wuhan, the one government that has primary responsibility, as a result of what it has done and what it has failed to do, is the CCP regime in Beijing.
The cardinal also expressed his sympathy towards the Chinese citizens. He said, “Indeed, the Chinese people were the first victims of this virus and have long been the primary victims of their repressive regime. They deserve our sympathy, our solidarity and our support. But it is the repression, the lies and the corruption of the CCP that are responsible.”
He listed a series of failures by the communist regime in addressing the crisis: Authorities suppressed the news and silenced whistleblowers; the government refused initial offers of help from the international community; and he accused the CCP of conducting a misinformation campaign on the origins of the virus.
He also mentioned how the Chinese government has violated human rights in recent years, including religious freedom. He said, “The CCP’s conduct is symptomatic of its increasingly repressive nature. In recent years we have seen an intense crackdown on freedom of expression in China. Lawyers, bloggers, dissidents and civil society activists have been rounded up and have disappeared. In particular, the regime has launched a campaign against religion, resulting in the destruction of thousands of churches and crosses and the incarceration of at least one million Uyghur Muslims in concentration camps.”
The cardinal is frustrated as his country Myanmar, which borders China, is unable to deal with the current pandemic, and thousands of lives could be lost due to lack of adequate health care. He stressed that through its “inhumane and irresponsible handling of the Coronavirus,” the CCP regime “has proven what many previously thought: that it is a threat to the world.”
