As the Pandemic Surges Around the Globe, Humans Share the Same Destiny

“I followed the U.K.’s advice. Did I spread coronavirus?”

Thus read the headline on a column by Abigail Tarttelin, British actress and author, published in The New York Times on March 25.

Five days earlier, the coronavirus pandemic in Italy was already out of control, and signs indicated that the situation in Great Britain was not far behind. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson still remained confident and announced testing for herd immunity, but was late to take action.

On March 27, he was diagnosed with the virus, and the country was shocked. The next day, a member of Johnson’s cabinet angrily blamed China for covering up the coronavirus situation early on, and threatened that a “reckoning” would be coming later.

The same day, New Yorker reporter Sam Knight wrote that Johnson was “a victim of his slow response to the coronavirus.”

As early as March 13, New York Times reporter Ian Johnson reported on flying from Beijing to London. In China, he had his temperature taken twice and had to provide an email address and two contact phone numbers. Once he disembarked in London, however, no one paid passengers any attention as they dispersed! The contrast between both ends of the flight was stark.

Johnson said that Chinese authorities had created a disaster by suppressing news of the virus early in the year. However, when China subsequently took severe measures to control the virus quickly, such as locking down Wuhan, it was broadly criticized by the West for being ineffective and violating human rights. The West hurt itself by letting the virus spread quickly after paying attention only to China’s early mistakes and ignoring China’s subsequent decisive and effective response. Later, Western countries were also forced to lock down cities, demonstrating a lamentable contrast between their initial words and their later actions.

On March 13, former National Security Advisor Susan Rice wrote in The New York Times that “no American lives have been saved by blaming China for the origin or spread of the virus.” Similarly, blaming the U.S. for the origin or spread of the virus will not save Chinese lives.

On Jan. 25, a Chinese-language station broadcast film of a well-known American television host alleging that the virus was manufactured in a virology center in Wuhan. Before mid-March, meanwhile, several military intelligence officers in Virginia posted a video on YouTube indicating that the source of COVID-19 was a U.S. laboratory which lost control of the virus and was shut down by the government, after which the U.S. military carried it to other countries. The viewpoints in these endless debates all seem to be based on solid evidence, but will this save the hundreds of people dying from the virus every day?

On March 26, Germany, which had only a .5% infection fatality rate, took in 47 patients from Italy, which had a 10% infection fatality rate. Helping others actually helps oneself. Today, the primary threat facing countries that are effectively keeping the pandemic under control, like Taiwan, are carriers bringing the virus into the country. But as the pandemic surges around the globe, humans share a common cause. No country can achieve security alone.

Grace Meng, the first female of Taiwanese descent to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, is the light of Taiwan. Today, with stronger relations between Taiwan and the U.S., she should be happy; instead, it’s the opposite situation. Meng feels helpless and unsettled. President Donald Trump used the term “Chinese virus,” and thus, his secretary of state has repeatedly referred to the “Wuhan virus.” Anti-Chinese sentiment is up in the U.S., and many people of Asian descent have been mistaken for Chinese and have been repeatedly harassed and attacked. Even though Taiwanese media favor the U.S. and is anti-China, by using the terms “Wuhan virus” or “Chinese virus,” who would have thought that Taiwanese compatriots would be harmed? This pandemic reminds us that the world is moving toward a common destiny. If a country expresses animosity toward another country, animosity will strike them back.

On March 20, Jan-Werner Müller, a professor of politics and philosophy at Princeton University, wrote in The New York Times: “We must help one another or die.” Because the virus does not differentiate between the rich and poor, the iron gates of mansions cannot stop it; even Great Britain’s Prince Charles was diagnosed with the virus.

Joseph Nye, an international relations expert and former U.S. assistant secretary of defense, pointed out in an article originally published in Project Syndicate that in responding to this pandemic, China and the U.S. initially denied it existed, wasting precious time, and later blamed each other to no avail. Today, solving problems that cross borders, like the virus and climate change, requires cooperation, not conflict. The time for a zero-sum game in which “you win, I lose” or “I win, you lose” has passed. It will be replaced by a positive-sum game in which you win, I win, and when you lose, I lose.

The author is a lecturer at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington, and served as deputy minister of Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense.