, Columnist
China Is Reopening Its Wet Markets. That's Good
Hold the outrage. Far from being cesspits of disease, they provide clean, fresh produce.
Everything must go.
Photographer: AARON TAM/AFP/Getty Images
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Here's one more issue to add to the bonfire of tensions with China brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The country is reportedly reopening its wet markets, the fresh produce stalls associated with Covid-19's early spread in Wuhan.
It's understandable that countries now in the grip of the first wave of infection might be outraged. Many blame wet markets for starting the outbreak in the first place. Opening them again, at a moment when thousands are dying overseas, seems emblematic of Beijing's increasingly chauvinistic approach to world affairs.