“China’s Chernobyl”: COVID-19 Narratives of Collapse and Global Domination

In  COVID-19’s first months, US politicians and media forecast that a contrast between Chinese deception and incapability and Western success against the pandemic might fatally sink internal confidence in China’s party-state. It would also diminish China externally, as it came to be seen as endangering the world by spreading biological pollution. A “China’s Chernobyl” prediction became the latest “China collapse” wish-fulfilment.  This rests on two contradictory yet co-existing Yellow Peril tropes: “deceit and incompetence” and “world domination.” However, no empirical basis exists for either notion: China prevailed against the pandemic and lacks the capacity for global hegemony.  “China’s Chernobyl” is most relevant then as a wish that creates a belief, that China should and could collapse. That in turn bolsters the US-led mobilization to counter China as a “strong competitor” and frames China as the common enemy, thereby promoting Western transnational and US internal cohesion.

视角

“中国的切尔诺贝利”： 2019新冠肺炎下的中国崩溃和主宰全球之叙事

关键词：中国；2019新型冠状病毒肺炎；黄祸；主宰全球；崩溃。

在2019新冠病毒肺炎疫情爆发最初的几个月里，美国政治家和媒体都预言说中国掩盖事实，应对疫情无能等表现，会与西方的成功作为之间形成强烈对比，将从内部致命打击对中国政府的信心。而且因为中国被认定传播生物污染而危害了全世界，也会从外部对中国造成损害。“中国的切尔诺贝利”预言成为“中国崩溃论”即将实现的最新版本。这个叙事建立在两个互相矛盾但又共存的“黄祸“主题之上：”欺瞒与无能“和”主宰世界“。然而无论哪一个理念都没有实证根据，因为：中国成功应对了疫情，并且尚欠缺全球霸主的能力。”中国的切尔诺贝利“因此顶多就是一个愿景，制造了”中国应该崩溃并且会崩溃“这一信念。它支持了美国主导下将中国作为”强大竞争者“加以遏制而进行的动员，将中国打造成一个公敌，从而促进西方跨国之间以及美国内部的团结。

Translated from English by Li Guo