NATO-Sponsored Global Poll Finds Chinese the Most Saying Their Government Had the Right Policy on Covid-19

Eric Zuesse (blogs at https://theduran.com/author/eric-zuesse/)

The NATO-sponsored 2023 “Alliance of Democracies” polls in 53 countries found that the country that in 2022 had the highest percentage marking “Disagree” with “their country has limited freedoms too much during COVID” was China. The country where the “Agree” percentage on that was the highest was India.

The question asked there was “Q22: Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: ‘My government has done too much to limit people’s freedoms during the coronavirus crisis’?” Of the Chinese respondents, 16% more said “Disagree” than said “Agree” with that statement. Of the Indian respondents, 67% more said “Agree” than said “Disagree.”

In U.S., 27% more said “Agree” than “Disagree.” In Russia, 20% more said “Agree” than “Disagree.”

According to the most comprehensive scorecard about covid-19 figures to-date, https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries, China has had only 347 cases per million residents, which is the world’s lowest; India has had 31,192, which is the world’s 67th-lowest; America has had 326,577, which is the 174th-lowest (out of 228 countries); and Russia has had 159,118, which is the 104th-lowest. On that measure (cases), the rank-order of covid-19 performance in those four countries was China, then India, then Russia, then U.S.

On deaths per million, China was the 3rd-lowest at 4. India was the 64th-lowest at 379. U.S. was 214th-lowest at 3,531. Russia was the 197th-lowest at 2,746. The rank-order on deaths-performance was the same as on cases-performance.

On “limit[ing] people’s freedoms during the coronavirus crisis,” China was the most restrictive of the four; America was the least-restrictive.

China’s unemployment during covid peaked in 2020 at 5%. America’s peaked in 2020 at 8.05%. Russia’s peaked in 2020 at 5.59%. India’s peaked in 2020 at 10.2%. The view by libertarians (=neoliberals) that the nations which were the strictest in their anti-pandemic policies would get the most unemployment, turned out to have been more wrong than right.

This isn’t to say that strict enforcement of ANY anti-pandemic policy is good, but ONLY that strict enforcement of EFFECTIVE anti-pandemic policies is good, and will save lives, and will also be best for the nation’s economy. We are now far enough into the covid-19 pandemic so that no rational person any longer can deny that China was exemplary in this regard. More than enough data are now in so that the case on this question can reasonably be considered to be closed with an opinion that is extraordinarily favorable to China’s Government and that is highly unfavorable to U.S.-and-allied Governments.

In October 2019, shortly before covid-19 hit, Johns Hopkins University published their “Global Health Security Index” rating and ranking 195 nations on their preparedness for a global pandemic, and their top-rated country was the U.S., which was actually among the worst of all nations (174th on cases, and 214th on deaths) at dealing with the covid-19 global pandemic. They ranked China (the best country on both) as #51. India was 57. Russia was 63. Czech Republic, which was actually one of the world’s 40 worst performers, was ranked by JHU as #42. In other words: JHU (the most-cited covid-19 ‘authority’ by America’s ‘news’-media) actually were more wrong than right about pandemics, though none of the ‘news’-media ever pointed that out, and they continued citing JHU as the ultimate authority on this.

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Investigative historian Eric Zuesse’s new book, AMERICA’S EMPIRE OF EVIL: Hitler’s Posthumous Victory, and Why the Social Sciences Need to Change, is about how America took over the world after World War II in order to enslave it to U.S.-and-allied billionaires. Their cartels extract the world’s wealth by control of not only their ‘news’ media but the social ‘sciences’ — duping the public.