The US Must Brook No Delay in Joining Global Anti-Epidemic Cooperation

The coronavirus is currently spreading to more and more locations around the world. This rapid, large-scale expansion is forcing ever more countries to recognize the urgency of a cooperative global response. But when it comes to the U.S. government’s understanding of the virus, it continues to diverge significantly from the international community, seriously hindering how the American population understands the danger posed by the virus, as well as impeding America’s ability to cooperate with other countries in responding to the coronavirus.

First of all, America has extended its tendency to politicize everything to its response to the coronavirus, resulting in seriously misleading the American public. The sudden global spread of the coronavirus infection has already turned into an international public health crisis, and it has definitely already spread to the U.S., but it is clear that the American political elite as well as the general population are seriously lagging behind in their recognition of how dangerous the virus is. From the get go, Washington has considered China’s extreme reaction to the epidemic and restrictions placed on domestic infected populations as a mark against China, doing everything it can to downplay the severity of a potential spread of the coronavirus to the U.S. In fact, some American members of Congress are using the spread of the coronavirus as a political tool to vilify and weaken China’s political system and international soft power, repeatedly using this topic to incite Americans’ hostility toward China.

All the while, individual public health department officials and experts have been unceasingly blowing the whistle regarding the potential impact of the coronavirus on American society. But at the moment, American policymakers have not been stirred to action and continue to politicize the virus, leaving the majority of the U.S. population completely in the dark.

Secondly, the American political elite’s lackluster response to the coronavirus will very likely lead to a rapid spread across the country, and America’s private market economy and checks and balances system with respect to federal authority is unlikely to be very effective in mobilizing national resources to quickly combat the danger of the virus. Responding to a grave public health crisis generally requires significant economic and labor costs. It will be very difficult for the federal government to impose these costs on businesses, people or individual states, while requesting funds from Congress will inevitably lead to time-consuming power struggles between political factions. Even if individual states implement rigorous response measures, that won’t be enough to overcome the consequences that will result when the majority of states turn a deaf ear to the issue. Strong preventative action would be both economical and effective for the U.S., but the window for implementing an effective strategy is closing. If the U.S. continues along this path, the coronavirus is very likely to become a “grey rhino,” battering American society and economy to a degree that is impossible to predict.

Thirdly, the U.S. should be investing as much as possible, as soon as possible, into the international response against the coronavirus. While China adopts a philosophy of international cooperation and pours the strength of our entire country into combating the epidemic, America continues to vilify Chinese foreign policy, and some people are still attempting to exploit this opportunity to accelerate the “cutting of ties” with China. Over the past two months, America has exploited Taiwan, human rights, debt-trap diplomacy and all sorts of other issues to stir up flames all over the place, unabashedly revealing its cold-hearted attitude. Now, some Americans are even trying to push for a reduction of America’s so-called dependence on China’s medical equipment supply chain.

America is home to the best medical technology in the world, and has extensive experience when it comes to preventing and curing infectious diseases. But now, despite an international consensus that global public health issues require a coordinated response from all countries, Washington still blindly believes that it will be spared from the coronavirus. Judging by the experience of other countries with the coronavirus, sooner or later this attitude is likely to yield bitter fruit for Washington. For now, it is imperative that the U.S. join hands with other countries at the United Nations and the World Health Organization as quickly as possible, and work together to combat the global spread of the coronavirus.

Fighting the coronavirus will very likely change people’s fundamental understanding of national security, as this process will push all countries toward an even more intimate understanding of the objective reality that the fate of the whole world is inseparably linked. Given America’s critical role in the international community, hopefully it will be able to wake up and recognize the danger posed by the coronavirus, and genuinely walk along the path of global anti-epidemic cooperation.

The author is a professor at the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University.