SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – A tweet by one of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s sons almost caused a diplomatic incident on Wednesday night between the South American country and China. Federal Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro tweeted that the culprit for the Covid-19 pandemic, currently overwhelming the globe, is China.
“Those who watched (the series) Chernobyl will understand what happened. Replace the nuclear plant with the coronavirus and the Soviet dictatorship with the Chinese. Once a dictatorship preferred to hide something serious rather than expose it, but if it did that would save countless lives. China is at fault and freedom would be the solution,” stated Eduardo Bolsonaro on his Tweeter account.
The response by Chinese officials came quickly. “Your words are extremely irresponsible and sound familiar. They are an imitation of your dear friends. Upon returning from Miami, you unfortunately contracted a mental virus that is infecting the friendship between our peoples,” wrote the Chinese Embassy on its social media.
“Unfortunately, you are a person without international vision, common sense, with no knowledge of China or the world. We advise you not to rush to be the US spokesman in Brazil, under the penalty of stumbling,” added the diplomatic entity.
The Embassy also replicated a series of email messages attributed to the Chinese ambassador to Brazil, Yang Wanming, against the younger Bolsonaro. The diplomat demanded that the representative ‘apologize to the Chinese people’.
“Your words are an evil insult against China and the Chinese people. Such a blatant anti-China attitude does not match your status as a federal representative, nor your position as a special public figure,” he wrote.
“In addition, your words will hurt the friendly China-Brazil relationship,” concluded the ambassador.
With tensions rising between the two countries, Brazil’s Foreign Affair Minister, Ernesto Araujo, came to the younger Bolsonaro’s rescue. “It is unacceptable for the Chinese ambassador to endorse or share a post that offends the head of state of Brazil and his constituents, as unfortunately happened last night,” said Araujo on his social media.
Araujo noted that the lawmaker’s tweet ‘did not reflect the position of the Brazilian government and that ‘he never offended the Chinese head of state’.
“I have already informed the Chinese ambassador of the Brazilian government’s dissatisfaction with his behavior. We expect a retraction for his offensive email to the head of state,” stated Araujo.
The distancing by Brazil’s government from Bolsonaro’s son was evident. Vice President Hamilton Mourão stated that the statement made by the younger Bolsonaro did not represent the opinion of the federal government. “Eduardo Bolsonaro is a federal deputy. If his surname was Eduardo Bananinha (something like John Dozy) it would not be a problem. All of this is just because of his surname. He does not represent the government,” he told Folha de S. Paulo. “It is not the government’s opinion,” he added.
Also apologizing for the deputy’s statement was the president of Brazil’s Lower House, Rodrigo Maia. “On behalf of the Chamber of Deputies, I apologize to China and Ambassador @WanmingYang for the thoughtless words of Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro,” wrote Maia on a social network.
By Thursday afternoon, Eduardo Bolsonaro had returned to social media to justify his message. “I have never offended the Chinese people, such an interpretation is totally out of place,” he said.
“I never intended to speak for the Brazilian government, but due to all this repercussion, stripped of any vanity or ego, I leave it crystal clear that my intention, once again, was never to offend the Chinese people or to harm the existing good relationship between our countries,” concluded Bolsonaro.
Despite the quarrel between representatives of the two countries, one expert in Brazil-China relations says the tension is likely to die down after a while, with no long-lasting consequences.
“I don’t believe that the tension between the two countries will last very long. Brazil and China have had over 45 years of good diplomatic relationship, [too strong] to be ruined by a few statements,” the director of Ibrachina (Brazil-China Cultural Institute), Thomas Law, told The Rio Times.
Nonetheless, the Institute repudiated the statement made by Eduardo Bolsonaro and stated that the time now is for alliances between peoples of the world.
“The world community is facing a pandemic. China received the first impact, admitted failures and adopted measures on a scale unprecedented in human history to combat the coronavirus. The mobilization of the Chinese people has become an example for the world. Its experience in containing the virus can help other countries,” read the Ibrachina note.
“Blaming the Chinese people, who suffered most from the coronavirus, is unacceptable,” added the Institute.