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There is something immensely wrong with it because unfortunately people don't see a difference between the Chinese government and the Chinese people. This is g

There is something immensely wrong with it because unfortunately people don't see a difference between the Chinese government and the Chinese people. This is going to greenlight those who are looking for reasons to lash out with their hate and puts those who are or could be confused as Chinese in danger from these idiots. There is also a need to be above petty name calling. It is fine to take a scientific and fact based stance on where the virus originated from and what went wrong... however naming it based on country of origin out of spite seems like a bad idea. A joke of maybe poor taste says that your mom was conceived in the back seat of a Buick but we still call her Janice.

spacehunt 7y ago
> people don't see a difference between the Chinese government and the Chinese people Which is entirely the Chinese government's doing. They have been pushing the narrative that they represent the entire ethnic Chinese race for a long time. Unfortunately many ethnic Chinese people welcomed this narrative -- even though they are citizens of other countries -- because it profited them as China's economic power rose. The current crisis reminds them that they can't have it both ways.
- monkeywork 7y ago
  >Which is entirely the Chinese government's doing. They have been pushing the narrative that they represent they entire ethnic Chinese race for a long time. That doesn't excuse you or deny the reality that doing something that insights hatred is wrong. Again we are talking about blaming (b/m)illions of people for the actions of their government.... shall we paint all Americans with an orange brush and assume the actions of their president accurately reflect them as well? >The current crisis reminds them that they can't have it both ways. The current crisis is a global crisis ... using it as an opportunity to direct hate to an ethnic group is not moral and is dangerous. If you can't see that you should really self reflect on what your motivations are on it and who it helps.
  - spacehunt 7y ago
    I don't know, to me not allowing people to qualify the virus using the place of origin (as was the convention before) is an insult to those people -- you are assuming malice, that these people must be racists. I'm saying this as an ethnic Chinese myself.
    - claudiawerner 7y ago
      Nobody said that those who use the term "Chinese virus" are necessarily racists. That's beside the point; in my other reply to this subthread, I linked a StackExchange thread which has good responses to why "Chinese virus" should not be considered OK, even considering previous namings as "Spanish flu", including those from experts (such as the WHO). The influenza epidemic of 2009 started in the US. Nobody calls that "North American virus".
      - spacehunt 7y ago
        I understand your point, but China did indeed try to call the 2009 flu pandemic "North American flu".[0] 北美 = North America, 流感 = flu, 鍾南山 = Zhong Nanshan (still widely respected in China due to his work during SARS) [0] https://web.archive.org/web/20090505142633/http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/090501/4/byza.html https://web.archive.org/web/20090505142633/http://hk.news.ya...
        monkeywork 7y ago
        Again I would assume that most of us understand the concept of two wrongs don't make a right and that just because someone else does something dangerous and stupid doesn't mean we should.
    - monkeywork 7y ago
      I'm not assuming malice in you specifically - I'm observing malice and the results of action objectively in several others and saying it is serves very little benefit with relation to the risk it presents. The virus has a name Covid 19. Naming it anything else does very little good (do you really think anyone doesn't know where it started) and potentially has a great harm.
twomoretime 7y ago
>because unfortunately people don't see a difference between the Chinese government and the Chinese people Then teach people to behave like adults, don't gaslight the rest of us by forcing racism into a reasonable and inoffensive scientific term. When you spread this inane idea that "Chinese Virus" is a racist or sinophobic designation, you're literally playing into the hands of Chinese astroturfing propaganda (Russians aren't the only ones with troll farms). And when dang shows up and silences anything remotely critical of the CCP under the guise of "nationalistic flamebait", and primarily censors comments critical of the CCP, he is helping, along with Reddit and most other major online platforms, to bias the collective narrative in favor of CCP propaganda. This "racism" nonsense is literally one of their talking points. dang if you read this, let me say that I appreciate what you do for the HN community, thanks to your stewardship this place has become an institution. However I would ask that you please be mindful of the fact that there is a propaganda war raging all over the internet right now and when platforms selectively censor certain viewpoints they effectively choose winners, which ultimately shapes collective policy. Though it may be a sensitive topic, the potential dishonesty of the CCP is absolutely germane to most of our COVID19 discussions because they in turn are often based on official CCP infection statistics. Criticism of the CCP is neither nationalistic or xenophobic and this is a discussion that needs to happen somewhere.
- monkeywork 7y ago
  >Then teach people to behave like adults, don't gaslight the rest of us by forcing racism into a reasonable and inoffensive scientific term. Unreasonable expectation unfortunately. No one is suggesting that the origin or mistakes made be covered up or denied. Simply stating that rather than stroking the flames with those that would use this name as a rallying call to act poorly (internment of Japanese Americans) save the finger pointing, the highlighting of responsibility etc until it over and let history sort it out. Creating an environment of distrust of innocents helps no one right now.

spacehunt 7y ago

> people don't see a difference between the Chinese government and the Chinese people Which is entirely the Chinese government's doing. They have been pushing the narrative that they represent the entire ethnic Chinese race for a long time. Unfortunately many ethnic Chinese people welcomed this narrative -- even though they are citizens of other countries -- because it profited them as China's economic power rose. The current crisis reminds them that they can't have it both ways.

monkeywork 7y ago
>Which is entirely the Chinese government's doing. They have been pushing the narrative that they represent they entire ethnic Chinese race for a long time. That doesn't excuse you or deny the reality that doing something that insights hatred is wrong. Again we are talking about blaming (b/m)illions of people for the actions of their government.... shall we paint all Americans with an orange brush and assume the actions of their president accurately reflect them as well? >The current crisis reminds them that they can't have it both ways. The current crisis is a global crisis ... using it as an opportunity to direct hate to an ethnic group is not moral and is dangerous. If you can't see that you should really self reflect on what your motivations are on it and who it helps.
- spacehunt 7y ago
  I don't know, to me not allowing people to qualify the virus using the place of origin (as was the convention before) is an insult to those people -- you are assuming malice, that these people must be racists. I'm saying this as an ethnic Chinese myself.
  - claudiawerner 7y ago
    Nobody said that those who use the term "Chinese virus" are necessarily racists. That's beside the point; in my other reply to this subthread, I linked a StackExchange thread which has good responses to why "Chinese virus" should not be considered OK, even considering previous namings as "Spanish flu", including those from experts (such as the WHO). The influenza epidemic of 2009 started in the US. Nobody calls that "North American virus".
    - spacehunt 7y ago
      I understand your point, but China did indeed try to call the 2009 flu pandemic "North American flu".[0] 北美 = North America, 流感 = flu, 鍾南山 = Zhong Nanshan (still widely respected in China due to his work during SARS) [0] https://web.archive.org/web/20090505142633/http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/090501/4/byza.html https://web.archive.org/web/20090505142633/http://hk.news.ya...
      - monkeywork 7y ago
        Again I would assume that most of us understand the concept of two wrongs don't make a right and that just because someone else does something dangerous and stupid doesn't mean we should.
  - monkeywork 7y ago
    I'm not assuming malice in you specifically - I'm observing malice and the results of action objectively in several others and saying it is serves very little benefit with relation to the risk it presents. The virus has a name Covid 19. Naming it anything else does very little good (do you really think anyone doesn't know where it started) and potentially has a great harm.

twomoretime 7y ago

>because unfortunately people don't see a difference between the Chinese government and the Chinese people Then teach people to behave like adults, don't gaslight the rest of us by forcing racism into a reasonable and inoffensive scientific term. When you spread this inane idea that "Chinese Virus" is a racist or sinophobic designation, you're literally playing into the hands of Chinese astroturfing propaganda (Russians aren't the only ones with troll farms). And when dang shows up and silences anything remotely critical of the CCP under the guise of "nationalistic flamebait", and primarily censors comments critical of the CCP, he is helping, along with Reddit and most other major online platforms, to bias the collective narrative in favor of CCP propaganda. This "racism" nonsense is literally one of their talking points. dang if you read this, let me say that I appreciate what you do for the HN community, thanks to your stewardship this place has become an institution. However I would ask that you please be mindful of the fact that there is a propaganda war raging all over the internet right now and when platforms selectively censor certain viewpoints they effectively choose winners, which ultimately shapes collective policy. Though it may be a sensitive topic, the potential dishonesty of the CCP is absolutely germane to most of our COVID19 discussions because they in turn are often based on official CCP infection statistics. Criticism of the CCP is neither nationalistic or xenophobic and this is a discussion that needs to happen somewhere.

monkeywork 7y ago
>Then teach people to behave like adults, don't gaslight the rest of us by forcing racism into a reasonable and inoffensive scientific term. Unreasonable expectation unfortunately. No one is suggesting that the origin or mistakes made be covered up or denied. Simply stating that rather than stroking the flames with those that would use this name as a rallying call to act poorly (internment of Japanese Americans) save the finger pointing, the highlighting of responsibility etc until it over and let history sort it out. Creating an environment of distrust of innocents helps no one right now.