What 'Journey to the West' can teach us about the deceitfulness of the CCP

There is a classic story from Journey to the West where on three separate occasions, a demon transformed into a girl, an old man, and then an old woman to deceive the Monk Tang Sanzang.

Tang was journeying to India to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures, and it was known that eating his flesh would provide everlasting life.

The demon, however, was thwarted by the resourceful and powerful Monkey King, who, on all three occasions, discovered and "killed" the girl, the man, and the woman.

Yet, these actions enraged Tang, who, with his mortal eyes, could not see what the demon was doing, and in turn, shocked by Monkey King's actions, expelled him from the pilgrimage.

The Journey to the West is awash with similar stories and lessons, and it reminds me of the West's struggles in dealing with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

News of the Wuhan pandemic broke on January 2020, but it was later confirmed to have begun as early as November 2019.

The CCP has done everything in its power to cover up any real inquiry into its origins, and to some extent, it has succeeded.

Eight Chinese whistleblowers - including Dr. Li Wenliang, who passed away - were admonished into silence.

The mayor of Wuhan, who faced tremendous pressure over the outbreak, shirked responsibility for not issuing early warnings and claimed his superiors did not authorise him to disclose any information.

The World Health Organisation also helped the CCP cause by discrediting early warnings from Taiwan.

While, the CCP also managed to stall and refuse inquiries into the virus for over a year, while punishing Australia economically for publicly calling for an investigation.

One virus probe later, and there are still questions over the veracity of the investigation.