Coronavirus

Niels Bo Bojesen, Coronavirus, January 27, 2020.

Chinese diplomacy got a welcome distraction yesterday, when they jumped on the chance to turn the attention from the handling of the coronavirus outbreak to a cartoon.

Everything of that story is contained within those two lines. 

Badiucao, New Sars Death, January 20, 2020.

It is the same story with any autocracy at any time. Declaration of offence, outcry and demand of respect. By the time the noise evaporates, the actual situation may be forgotten in the mind of the public. 

The chance was all the more readily available this time from Niels Bo Bojesen using the image of the flag. 

Flags carry an energy of social and ethical dimensions, to cite Christiane Taubira. However they are not relics. They represent a presence and for that reason this blog is crammed with them, such as here. A flag is literally a picture plane already at hand and this time Niels Bo Bojesen is addressing the pertinent question of the spreading of a virus, which may affect an even larger part of the world's population.  

Let us then double the cartoons with that of Badiucao, who is confronting the lack of transparency and the attempt to make everything seem to be under control. His cartoon is a week old, showing us with precision the reaction to Niels' cartoon. 

Neither cartoonist exposed the sick nor their nurses and doctors fainting under the demand to keep running. They addressed the official face or lack thereof on the epidemic.

And now the Chinese authorities have secured that we all remember their cartoons. Well done, Badiucao and Niels on all levels.

The cartoons shown are courtesy of Niels Bo Bojesen and Badiucao and must not be reproduced without their permission.