'Cover-up' claims from US are all sound and fury（謊言：美國最新一輪陰謀論的源頭）

　　"There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics."

　　Mark Twain is often credited for this well-worn adage about the power of numbers to deceive. He didn't come up with it, but it sure sounds like something he'd say.

　　Some in the United States have studied this expression well, given their latest attacks on China. They've made it a little simpler, though: In the absence of statistics, all they have to throw around are lies.

　　The newest round of absurdities comes courtesy of a government and media struggling to find a scapegoat for their disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. As China emerges from lockdown after successful containment of the virus — though concern remains over a possible second wave — a furious US populace, with tens of thousands dead and hundreds of thousands infected, is demanding to know why those in charge did not act sooner. Rather than provide an apology or real solutions, some are alleging China deliberately undercounted its infections and deaths in an effort to "cover up" the scale of the outbreak and mislead the world.

　　This is, of course, an utter falsehood. Ask any of these people to substantiate their claims and they'll come up empty, maybe mumble something about their gut tells them they're right. At most, they will cite poorly sourced reports that should never have been published in the first place.

　　Friday's revision of Wuhan's death toll has thrown fuel on the conspiratorial fire. Already the hyenas in the Western press are salivating, drawing the worst possible conclusions from what would be commended if it happened in any other country. Now that the worst of the outbreak has passed, Wuhan has been able to take a breath and audit its data to ensure an accurate count. One would think this is the very behavior critics want to see. But since they're continuing to take potshots at China anyway, we can guess how genuine their commitment to transparency really is.

　　The uptick in numbers has several perfectly reasonable explanations. When the virus was at its apex, health systems were stretched to their absolute limits. This was remedied with the swift construction of temporary hospitals, but those Herculean efforts could not save everyone and some sadly passed away at home. Testing infrastructure also took time to catch up to the spread of the epidemic, meaning some who died of the virus were previously uncounted. Any increase in death tolls is cause for heartbreak, of course. But it’s better in the long run to have as precise as possible — and the 1,290 Wuhan revised yesterday is a far cry from the tens of thousands or millions some were twisting themselves into pretzels to make sound plausible.

　　Putting all that nonsense aside, basic arithmetic calls the whole "cover-up" thesis into question. Though it has a large urbanized population, China's proportional death rate falls well within a reasonable range; China's per-million rate falls below the Republic of Korea's and above Japan's, for instance. Strangely enough, no one is accusing Japan of falsifying its numbers. I'm sure its economic and strategic relationship with the US has nothing to do with that.

　　With that in mind, let's again review China's methods to see if the country passes muster. Days after sustained human-to-human transmission was confirmed, China enacted an unprecedented outbreak control regime. Among other measures, it included near-universal temperature checks, a leveled system of screening and clearly partitioned levels of quarantine. In particular, the centralized isolation of patients with mild symptoms away from home was singled out by the World Health Organization as the most effective method of curbing the spread of the virus — something the United States has yet to implement on a wide scale.

　　In China, testing and treatment were made free to all; meanwhile potential carriers in the US, where millions have lost their jobs and for-profit health insurance reigns supreme, are often avoiding the hospital and staying home. This can spread the virus to family members and other close contacts.

　　That's assuming they're not being made to work, of course. As there are no binding national-level guidelines on outbreak control or essential employment, states and localities have been given a great deal of latitude in how they are handling their epidemics. Some have adopted the necessary protocols to hamper infections. Others have dismissed concerns and voiced their desire to return to "business as usual". We will know soon enough which approach is the right one; some will pay dearly for this little federalist experiment.

　　There is no "cover-up" to blame for the relatively modest casualty count in China. We know exactly who is responsible: The Chinese people, who took the threat of the virus seriously and sacrificed personal comfort to comply with lockdowns, especially in Wuhan; the healthcare professionals who risked life and limb to battle the disease on the front lines; and the Chinese government, which acted decisively to blunt the contagion's spread.

　　That success was paid for with blood, and those who lost their lives should be venerated as martyrs in a struggle for the survival of the human race. Implying such a hard-won victory came about by fudging statistics or outright lying dishonors their memories. It's nothing more than a cheap dodge, meant to smother the wholly righteous anger radiating from those demanding answers from their government.

　　Instead of fabricating conspiracies from thin air, the US should be asking what it can learn from China's experience combating the epidemic. Maybe then it would see how the death rate has been kept so low.

　　The author is a US writer with China Daily.

　　The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.

文字評論推薦作品譯文

謊言：美國最新一輪陰謀論的源頭

作者：伊谷然

　　“世界上有三種謊言：謊言、彌天大謊和統計數字。”

　　馬克·吐溫常被認為是這句格言的作者。盡管聽起來確實像是 他的語言風格，但他并沒有說過這句話。

　　不過，看看最近美國對中國的輿論攻擊，一些美國人應該認真 研究了這句名言。只是，他們把名言直接簡化了:在毫無統計數字的情況下，他們所能拋出的只能是謊言。

　　美國應對新冠疫情大流行的不力表現簡直是災難，其政府和媒 體卻不遺余力尋找替罪羊，而最新一輪的荒謬攻擊正是源自于此。

　　最近，在中國訂正了新冠肺炎確診和死亡病例的數字之后，美 國又出現了一波抹黑中國的陰謀論。

　　隨著中國成功遏制病毒后有序解除封鎖，憤怒的美國民眾(美國已有數十萬人感染新冠病毒，數以萬計的人死亡)要求知道，為什么美國領導人沒有早點采取行動。

　　但是，美國某些人不思悔過，不去積極提供真正的疫情解決方 案，而是指責中國故意少報確診人數和死亡人數，試圖“掩蓋”疫 情規模誤導世界。

　　這些言論純粹是徹頭徹尾的謊言。如果讓他們來證實自己的觀 點，他們會喃喃自語地說出他們的直覺告訴他們是對的，最多只會 引用來源不佳的新聞報道。

　　2020 年 4 月 17 日，武漢市就新冠肺炎確診病例數、確診病例死亡數訂正情況進行了通報，美國的陰謀論之火又被添了一把柴。西 方媒體的鬣狗們已經垂涎欲滴，科學訂正疫情數據如果發生在其他 任何國家都值得稱贊，西方媒體卻從中得出了最糟糕的結論。

　　事實上，現在中國疫情最嚴重的時候已經過去，武漢可以對數 據進行訂正，確保統計數字準確。有人或許會認為訂正疫情數據正 中“批評家”的下懷。但由于這些西方“批評家”不斷胡亂抨擊中 國，我們完全可以知道他們對所謂“透明度”的信奉到底有幾多真 誠。

　　任何死亡人數的增加都會讓人心碎。但是，死亡數字的上升有幾個完全合理的解釋。

　　疫情處于頂峰時，武漢衛生系統已達到了絕對極限。這些巨大的努力并不能拯救每一個人，有些人在家里不幸去世。另外，病毒 檢測也需要時間，這意味著一些死亡人口之前沒有被統計在內。

　　從長遠來看，數據越精確越好。西方有些人為了讓中國的疫情數據聽起來貌似可信，將數據扭曲為幾萬甚至幾百萬例。武漢昨天 核增 1290 例死亡病例，這無疑與嘩眾取寵之聲相差懸殊。

　　此外，基本的算術就能讓整個“掩蓋數據”陰謀論受到質疑。中國雖然城市化人口眾多，但人口死亡比例仍在合理范圍內。例如，

　　中國的新冠肺炎死亡率低于韓國，高于日本。奇怪的是，沒有人指責日本偽造數據。我相信美日經濟和戰略關系與此無關。

　　讓我們再次回顧一下中國的抗“疫”之路，看看這個國家應對疫情是否合格。

　　在確認病毒會持續人傳人之后，中國就實施了前所未有的管控舉措。包括幾乎所有場所都要體溫檢測、分級篩查和明確劃分的隔 離級別。世界衛生組織特別指出，將癥狀輕微的患者從家中隔離轉 為集中隔離是遏制病毒傳播的最有效方法，而美國尚未大規模實施 這一措施。

　　在中國，檢測和治療對所有人免費。相反，美國的醫療保險以盈利為目的，潛在的病毒攜帶者往往不去醫院，而是呆在家里。這 會將病毒傳播給家庭成員和其他密切接觸者。

　　此外，由于在疫情控制或就業方面沒有具有約束力的國家級指導方針，美國各州在處理疫情方面有很大的自由度。一些州采取了 必要措施來防止感染。其他地方則對這些擔憂不屑一顧，并表示希 望“一切如常”。我們很快就會知道哪種方法是正確的，有些人會 為這個小小的聯邦主義實驗付出沉重代價。

　　疫情期間，中國死亡人數相對較少，絕不是因為所謂的“掩蓋數據”。我們清楚地知道誰為此做出了貢獻：中國人民。

　　中國政府果斷采取行動，中國人民嚴肅對待病毒，犧牲個人生活遵守封鎖措施，特別是在武漢。醫護人員在前線冒著生命危險與 疾病作斗爭。這些都遏制了疫情危機的蔓延。

　　成功來之不易，那些為人類生存而犧牲的人應該作為烈士受到尊敬。暗示這一來之不易的勝利是通過捏造數據，甚至公然說謊來 玷污中國，這只不過是一種廉價的托詞，意在壓制那些憤怒的要求 美國政府作出回應的人。

　　美國不應憑空捏造陰謀論，而應問問自己能從中國抗擊疫情的成功經驗中學到什么。也許那時它就會明白為什么中國的死亡率保 持在這么低的水平。