Only White House's most fervent fans will swallow its China's-to-blame claims: China Daily editorial

The number of complaints related to racial discrimination the human rights watchdog in New York City received from February to April was 20 times more than the same period last year, among which nearly half were from Asian Americans.

That is only the tip of the iceberg, as Asian Americans nationwide have encountered a surge in discrimination and racism. Even some Asian American doctors and nurses fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic on the front line in the US have been boycotted and insulted by patients.

For a long time, Asian Americans, particularly those successful, have been regarded as free riders of the US system, regardless of how hard they have worked to climb up the social ladder. They have been subject to the spite of jealousy as well as the long-rooted racism in US society toward Asians.

But what makes the discrimination they face even more egregious now is that it is being fueled and orchestrated by the US administration.

Even the Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned the dramatic increase of crimes against Asian Americans is because some people in the US have bought the administration's fabrication that the novel coronavirus is a Chinese threat.

It is no coincidence that after the US administration started referring to the novel coronavirus as the "China virus" in March violence against Asian Americans increased rapidly.

With many US officials unceasingly trying to portray China as the source of the troubles the US is experiencing, it is obvious that the US administration is willing to victimize some of its own citizens if it thinks that will get its own head off the spike of voter anger.

Although its now customary assertions that it is beyond reproach may be swallowed without demur by its hardcore supporters, the administration's falling approval ratings show that while it may be able to fool some of the people all of the time, many of its one-time adherents have now cottoned onto the fact that its divisive words and deeds are simply self-serving.

The mounting death toll from the pandemic in the US is not because the pathogen has Chinese characteristics but because the US administration has proved fatally incapable of responding to it. The anger displayed on the streets of US cities shows that not only do a lot of people want an end to the country's long history of racist killings, they also want the administration to be held accountable for its deadly ham-fisted handling of the pandemic.

It is fair to say that it is the US administration that has single-handedly transformed the public health emergency into a systemic social, political and economic crisis for the nation. That's quite an achievement. But not one to take any tweeted pride in.