February 2020

In February, the number of COVID-19 cases was still limited in the Mediterranean region. Hence, the media of the countries in the wider Mediterranean region mostly focused on the economic impact of the virus. Interestingly, some, mostly commentators in the Gulf, framed the appearance of the virus as a sign of divine punishment.

We found expressions of concern regarding the impact of the Chinese economic slowdown due to COVID-19 in Greek, Spanish, Italian, Moroccan, Israeli, Spanish, and Jordanian media. [1] This is, if the data that we collected in our website were not clear enough, a testament to China’s centrality in the economy of many countries of the region. Essentially, commentators are worried about two issues. First, since tourism is an important industry for many countries, the restrictions imposed by the Chinese government and the cancellation of many flights to and from China is seen as a tremendous economic threat. Second, China is one of the top suppliers of a variety of goods to Mediterranean countries. The prolonged stop of Chinese manufacturers caused by the quarantine in China will have long-lasting effects in terms of productivity of local companies and eventually cause unemployment. While in Israel it seems that the main problem consists of a delay in the arrival of goods bought online, there is the fear that a substantial number of Jordanian companies will have to stop their work as their Chinese suppliers are unable to produce the components that they need. The activities in the Port of Piraeus, too, are suffering for the same reasons.

Meanwhile, as the fear for the arrival of COVID-19 spreads, different media report the rise of cases of racism and the attempts of local authorities to signal their support for the Chinese community. For example, the Mayor of Bologna in Italy said he wanted to meet with the 11-year-old student of Chinese origin that was attacked in his school due to racism. [2] Chinese nationals have been harassed, for example, also in Torino and Frosinone. More broadly, the Israeli newspaper Hareetz denounced similar cases in Israel as well as the fact that many commentators are politicizing the emergency of the coronavirus. [3] Meanwhile, Al-Ahram reports that the Egyptian government sent ten tons of medical supplies to China and that Egyptians are showing their solidarity toward the numerous Chinese nationals in the country. [4]

In other Arab countries, the debate on China and COVID-19 goes well beyond the issue of racism. On the one hand, some commentators argue that the coronavirus will significantly undermine China’s rise. We found such an argument in the Bahraini newspaper Akhbar Al Khaleej as well as in Alwatan, which is published in Oman. [5] Interestingly, the author of the article in Alwatan pulls no punches and argues that the appearance of the virus in China is a divine punishment for the treatment of the Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang province. On the other hand, other publications, especially the Saudi ones, praise the response of the Chinese government response and claim that it emerged stronger than ever also on the international stage. [6] The Saudi newspaper Okaz invited the readers to look at COVID-19 as “only” a virus and not let religious beliefs interfere with a scientific problem. Others claim that the fight against COVID-19 has boosted China’s global stature despite the attacks by Western media.

Finally, besides the discussions on China and COVID-19, other articles that we found focus on American warnings to the Spanish government against allowing Chinese companies like ZTE and Huawei to participate in the construction of the country’s 5G infrastructure. [7] This message was delivered by Robert L. Strayer, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyber and International Communications and Information Policy, during a roundtable organized by the American embassy in Madrid. Yet, the article does not contain any comment on the Spanish government’s approach or response. At the same time, the Iraqi newspaper Al-Zaman continues its attack against the government in Baghdad over the terms of the oil-for-investment agreement signed in October 2019 in Beijing by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. [8] The article does not contain any new elements that we have not already discussed in the previous issues of the ChinaMed Observer (here). Yet, we can notice that the focus this time is on if and how local Iraqi contractors will benefit from the presence of Chinese companies. The author questions how free the hands of the Iraqi government will be in deciding the project financed with Chinese money and which companies will be awarded the contracts. How to monitor the progress of the projects, too, is not clear. Clearly, the Iraqi government has not provided any information regarding these important issues yet.

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