Since we’re all (supposed to be) stuck at home for both the foreseeable and unforeseeable future, I am eternally grateful to the BBC for their TV shows, the iPlayer and, above all BBC 6 Music and Radio Five Live. I’ll also put a word in for Amazon Prime, too, since My Greek Odyssey has been a truly great find. But yesterday, I watched some of my favourite shows of all time: Clive James’ ‘Postcards’.
James was one of the greatest writers and TV presenters of all time and his self-penned Postcards represent some of the finest travelogues ever made. They are all quite brilliant, educational, funny and ultimately revealing about the countries he visits, whether it’s the financial apartheid system in Rio or the poverty in Bombay.
The show that stood out for me, even though it was probably made some 30 years ago, was Postcard from Shanghai. As ever, James painted a fascinating picture of the city, but what was shockingly relevant, even today, was his visit to one of the Wet Markets. Here, all manner of animals, dead or more unsettlingly, alive were for sale, in packed cages or in small baths, like the live turtles and snakes. None of the animals were being sold as pets. They were being sold for food.
It was still relevant because the Covid-19 virus that is sweeping the world may have emerged from the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan. We don’t know that for sure and scientists are still working on the actual origins but even so, what Clive James showed us in his Postcard was truly repulsive. It was entirely possible to believe that all manner of deadly viruses emerged from places like this.
I am no expert but it seems to me that the world should be demanding, not asking, the Chinese authorities to close these markets with immediate effect. Permanently. Even if they do not produce viruses that kill people – and the evidence is that they may well do – they are horrible, cruel places. More than that, we will need to ask serious questions about our relationship with China.
Because of its importance to international trade, we conveniently ignore China’s appalling human rights record and its lack of democracy. We even allow them to play a major role in establishing our 5G network. In other words, we put economics above principle and, in this instance, above the need to avoid damaging pandemics. We want their money via the goods we sell them, we want their goods because they are cheap, we want their students because they help prop up our universities. This can’t be right, can it?
The damage Covid-19 will inflict upon the world will be massive. Huge numbers of lives are being lost, companies will go to the wall and millions of jobs will be lost. Our lives will never be the same again.
When science has finally determined what caused Covid-19, the world in general and China in particular will need to deal with the reasons once and for all. If the virus really did transmit to humans through bats, or through any of China’s filthy wet markets and dubious treatment of animals, the rest of the world can’t simply shrug its shoulders and say, “Yes, but they make lovely mobile phones.” They must be told to mend their ways or face widespread sanctions until they do.
