Exchanges on Wuhan Virus: A Poem

I have greatest respect for Xi,
We get along superbly well,
But I insist China must be
Strong armed by us to full truth tell.

In China more people have died
Than in US by this disease,
The Chinese have through their teeth lied,
They must be put under a squeeze.

Investigations on the spot
Will clear things China confuses,
To see labs are secure or not
Access to them it refuses.

We can’t let the UNSC
Reach any consensus without
Wuhan being acknowledged to be
The source to remove any doubt.

The head of WHO must
Quit as he has toed China’s line,
Until I see that happen first
All US funding I’ll decline.

Some trillion dollar worth of suits
Have in US courts been filed,
Pressure from these legal pursuits
Will now be on the Chinese piled.

A broad consensus now exists
For economic de-coupling,
Knowing if dependence persists
China will hold us with a string.

McMaster in his forthcoming book
Lays China’s immense hubris bare,
How now at the US they look
With a new Middle Kingdom air.

The Chinese Prime Minister thinks
He now has full autonomy
In industry, and future links
With US will colonial be,

With it mere raw material source.
China now has the illusion:
With BRI on winning course,
Military-Civil Fusion,

Made in China 2025,
This well-honed three pronged strategy,
Pushed by triple pinpointed drive
Of co-option, coercion’ll be,

Along with concealment, the way
China will reach that wanted place
In global hierarchy, one day
The US at the top displace.

The source of CV is not known,
It is for scientists to find out,
No one can fight it on their own,
It must be done with combined clout.

We’ve kept WHO informed
And shared all the data with it,
We have with all the rules conformed,
In every way we’ve done our bit,

After China was caught by surprise,
With transparency, openness
And sacrifice, now answer lies
In united efforts to address

This outbreak. Share information,
Cut-off cross-border infections,
Strengthen drug cooperation
And pandemic control actions.

Our guiding vision is to build
A community with a shared
Future for mankind, one that’s filled
With harmony and all feel cared.

We need to restore production
And demand, keep supply chains stable,
Cut tariffs, let trade flows function,
Remove barriers, to enable

Combating global recession
And a brighter future embrace-
(All with no Chinese concession
As it feels poised to win the race).

The world now has begun to weigh
The threat that China represents,
And wants to now hold it at bay,
Its rise public at large resents.

The Europeans have found their voice,
Hard questions UK wants to ask,
Business as usual’s not a choice,
Dive deep, draw lessons’ seen as task.

As China doesn’t “play by our rules”,
So, UK on it can’t depend,
Through its disinformation tools
Has caused so many lives to end.

China did seek to obfuscate
Realities on ground, and instead
Of collecting data by the State
To fight it, let the virus spread.

China’s handling of the disease
Has left Macron also in doubt.
There are grey areas that he sees
That we don’t know enough about

That China has handled better
Is not something we should believe,
Things clearly happened, the matter
Is unclear, let’s not be naive.

The editor of Bild tells Xi
He wouldn’t be president without
Total surveillance, but that he
Leaves control of wet markets out.

All critical websites are shut,
But not stalls where bat soup is sold,
And China’s innovation’s but
Methods to steal IP’s untold.

Your government and the scientists knew
Threat of Corona long ago.
You let the world in darkness stew,
Didn’t let western researchers know

What in Wuhan was going on.
Proud, too nationalistic to face
The truth, you put a veil upon
What for you was national disgrace.

The masks you send are acts of guile
Not generosity, clearly
It’s imperialism with a smile,
They are a Trojan Horse truly.

Your toxic labs are less secure
Than jails prisoners political
Are put in, for Chinese the cure
Lies in undoing the inscrutable

And non-transparent system which
People in whispers criticize,
You plague-export to make you rich
Is one that will cut you to size

Corona’s your greatest export hit
But in your plans you won’t succeed
Your political end’s been writ,
Sooner or later by this deed.

And playing his wolf warrior act
The Chinese ambassador there
Chose to with arrogance react
Laying his contempt for Aussies bare:

Tourists will not go down under,
And Aussie schools students won’t pick,
You should expect with this blunder
Consequences economic.

Your products will face a boycott,
The Chinese will no longer drink
Australian wine, and they will not
Eat your beef- this you need to think.

For Global Times Australia’s like
Chewing gum stuck on China’s sole,
To be scraped off with much dislike
With stone- this will be Beijing’s goal.

Marise Payne says such coercion
Will not deter their push to know
The truth, showing her aversion
To any form of a kow-tow.