林民旺：见中国抗疫成功，印度评论酸成“柠檬精”

【文/观察者网专栏作者 林民旺】

印度疫情的快速增长形势似乎被控制住了。尽管每日新增的新冠患者确诊数仍相当大，但相对于印度这样体量的人口大国来说，这样的成绩和效果，已属相当不易。

印度对疫情的管控举措，受到了世界卫生组织的表扬。与此同时，印度也受到外国媒体的各种指摘和责难，从印度确诊数和死亡数的数据不可信，到印度封城导致上百万日薪工人的生活困境，以及印度政府由于疫情而对特定少数群体（穆斯林）的仇恨式宣传。当然，印度并没有对这些指责保持沉默，而是对这些批评进行了反击。

然而，一些印度评论家却似乎奉行“双重标准”，对中国的抗疫行动及举措，提出了不少在中国人看来相当严厉的批评。

1月23日，中国武汉因新冠疫情而采取严厉的封城举措。普通中国人，对这种“突如其来”的新型病毒毫无准备，既有莫名的恐惧情绪，也有对突然被要求居家隔离感到相当不适。在中国疫情最严重的时候，每天醒来，我最关心的就是新增确诊患者数是多少。

当时，印度立即采取了撤侨、禁止口罩出口等举措。虽然，从情理上说都能够理解印度的做法，但是却对此做法却并无太多好感，尤其是看到印度评论家对中国的抗疫举措进行“冷嘲热讽”的评论。

幸运的是，中国的严厉举措很快就见成效了。中国媒体自然就开始报道抗疫的成功和采取的举措。一个14亿人口的大国，它的媒体首先需要面对的是国内的读者，需要化解的是普通民众由于居家隔离而产生的不满情绪，再加上中国仍然需要民众配合以控制好疫情，以实现尽快地恢复生产和生活。但是，在印度的评论里，我所看到的是，大部分人似乎认为这是中国政府要凸显中国体制的优越性，甚至称中国是进行制度模式的输出。

我相信，中国肯定没有这样的动机和意图。1979年印度外长瓦杰帕伊访问北京时，邓小平告诉他，中国没有兴趣进行政治制度输出。同样，在当下抗击疫情的关键时刻，中国更不可能有制度输出的动机和意图了。

中国一直强调中国的制度是“有中国特色”，意思是它符合中国的国情和现实。正如习近平主席经常说的，“鞋子合不合脚,自己穿了才知道”，“一个国家的发展道路合不合适，只有这个国家的人民才最有发言权”。然而，西方民主国家却动不动就否定中国政治制度的现实合理性。

在美国特朗普政府大力“甩锅”中国和将责任推卸给世界卫生组织的时候，印度国内同样充斥着一大堆“中国（武汉）病毒论”、“中国扩散论”、“世界卫生组织过错论”、“中国借机扩张论”的污名化言论。为此，中国驻印度大使馆不得不多次发表声明，向印度舆论界阐释基本事实。

我不想花费笔墨进行这方面的详细争论。我的理解是，作为一个学者和评论家，只要保持你对信息获取的开放性，特别是多听听专业人士的解释，而不是完全依赖政治家们的言论，那么得出的见解肯定会更接近事实。毕竟新冠肺炎病毒是一种新型的病毒，关于这一疫情的产生、发展和控制的理解，都需要相应的医学知识作为支撑。

我感到最为遗憾的是，不少印度评论家进行了随意评论和妄下结论。在我看来，这就不是无意图的行为，相反是某种偏见在作怪。

一些评论认为，中国给很多国家提供或者赠送医疗产品，是有地缘政治的企图。这显然是夸张了。印度也采购了中国的口罩、防护服、呼吸机、检测试剂盒等医疗设备。马云和阿里巴巴公益基金会向印度提供了大量防护物资。这些举动是否都有地缘政治企图呢？按照这些人的逻辑，印度也给南亚和中东国家提供了不少抗疫援助，背后有没有地缘政治企图呢？

中国有生产医疗用品的强大能力，而且中国和塞尔维亚、意大利、伊朗等国本身就有非常良好的关系。如果它们需要帮助的时候，中国有能力提供帮助却选择袖手旁观，那就真是缺乏基本的人性和同情心了。

塞尔维亚当地民众在一场主题为“塞尔维亚人民永远和中国兄弟在一起”的音乐会上，手持中国国旗表示对中国的支持。（图/新华社）

国际政治的虚伪性是显而易见的，中国对一些医疗能力较弱的国家提供帮助，被看作是地缘政治企图。那如果中国和很多国家一样，采取禁止出口医疗产品和药物的做法，那肯定又会被批评将生产能力“武器化”吧？

值得欣慰的是，印度政府大体还是秉持着理性与克制。只是其部分措施也很令人困惑。

印度舆论对华不够友善的声音太多，对于我这样一直关注中印关系的人来说，毫不奇怪。只是，最近大量的消极声音，实在是让人感觉甚为遗憾。2020年4月1日是中印建交70周年，中印关系显然更有理由站在新的起点上发展。

当然，就目前的情势而言，中印两国的重中之重都是先管控好疫情，逐步恢复生产生活，这才是最重要的，相似的国情天然地促使两国在这方面有巨大的合作空间。双方应该进行更多具有实质性的抗疫合作。

（本文英文原文首发于《南华早报》，标题“Vitriol in Indian media can only poison relations with China, at a time when cooperation is needed in coronavirus fight”。作者授权观察者网发布中文版，翻页查看英文版）

Vitriol in Indian media can only poison relations with China, at a time when cooperation is needed in coronavirus fight

The Covid-19 outbreak in India appears to be under control. Although the number of confirmed cases is still increasing, India’s record in battling the pandemic has been quite a success, considering the size of its population.

The World Health Organisation has praised India’s lockdown measures at an early stage. Nevertheless, the government is facing a storm of media criticism, including accusations of unreliable data on infection numbers and the death toll, and on the measures’ adverse impact on daily-wage workers. The harshest criticism has been aimed at New Delhi’s handling of the hate propaganda against minority groups, specifically Muslims.

Many Indian observers even go so far as to blame China for the outbreak of Covid-19 and criticise the Chinese government’s lack of transparency.

The average Chinese finds such criticism difficult to accept. When Beijing imposed a lockdown on Wuhan with little notice on January 23, tens of millions of people were forced to stay at home in an unprecedented living arrangement. Caught unprepared, we experienced fear and discomfort. During the worst time, the first thing I did when I awoke every day was to check the number of new cases.

At that time, India quickly took steps to evacuate its nationals in China and later banned the export of certain masks. Many Chinese, in all fairness, understood the need for such measures, even if they did not like them, especially after reading comments in the Indian media sneering at China’s fight against Covid-19.

Fortunately, China’s stringent measures paid off, and the Chinese media naturally began to report on their success. China is a large country with a population of over 1.4 billion, so its media needed to console and encourage the domestic audience by telling a great story. After all, many people had been through weeks of gruelling social isolation, and the government still needed their cooperation to contain the virus.

However, some Indian commentators believed these media stories amounted to the Chinese government trying to showcase the superiority of the Chinese political system and even trying to export such a system.

I believe the Chinese government has no such intentions. When then Indian foreign minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Beijing in 1979, Deng Xiaoping made it clear to him that China was not interested in exporting its political system.

Now at a critical moment in the fight against Covid-19, there is no incentive for the Chinese government to try to export its political system. Beijing has always emphasised the “Chinese characteristics” of its political system, meaning that it grows from China’s historical and political legacies. As President Xi Jinping has often said, “whether a pair of shoes fit, only the wearer knows”, and that it is the people of a country who are best placed to judge the path of development they have chosen for themselves.

Democratic countries in the West do not respect China’s political system and try their best to undermine it. It is regrettable that the Trump administration has tried hard to blame China for Covid-19 and shirked its responsibility to the World Health Organisation.

In India, the media is promoting conspiracy theories highlighting China’s so-called geopolitical expansion. The Chinese embassy in India has had to issue many statements clarifying the basic facts.

In these times, one way to distinguish truth from falsehood is to keep one’s access to information open and listen to experts’ views, rather than rely solely on politicians’ statements. In the case of the novel coronavirus, medical opinions about its origin, development and spread are important.

Regrettably, the random comments and arbitrary conclusions of some Indian observers rely less on fact and more on prejudice. Some have criticised China for playing a geopolitical game by offering medical products to many countries. This is obviously an exaggeration.

India has bought medical equipment such as masks, ventilators and test kits from some Chinese companies, while other Chinese companies, including Alibaba, have donated supplies to India. Are there geopolitical motives behind these moves? India has also provided assistance to its neighbouring countries. By the same logic, is India also playing a geopolitical game?

China has a great capacity to produce medical equipment, and very sound bilateral relations with Serbia, Italy, Iran and other countries. Should China stand by while its friends need help, risking a humanitarian disaster?

Hypocrisy is rampant in international politics. China’s assistance to some countries is viewed as a cynical move. But if China bans the export of medical products and drugs, as some other countries have, it would certainly be criticised for weaponising its manufacturing capacity.

The silver lining in all this is that Indian government officials have so far mostly kept their reason and acted with restraint.

Indian public opinion is not friendly to China in general. For people like me, who have been following Sino-Indian relations closely for many years, this is not new. However, I am really surprised by the cacophony of insinuation, blame and criticism that has been directed at China since the outbreak.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India. So, there is more reason for both sides to strengthen and reaffirm their relationship.

As far as the current situation is concerned, the top priority for both countries is to control the pandemic and gradually resume normal production and life. Similar conditions in both countries mean they have a lot of room to cooperate more closely and fight Covid-19 together.

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