Crisis Should Bring China and the U.S.Together

by Liao Zhengrong

After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia （COVID-19）， many countries have given China both spiritual and material support. But the government of the United States presented a mixed reaction： It voiced support for China to control the epidemic while pressing on with attempts to injure the nation in many ways.

Within the last two years， the U.S. has deemed China a “strategic competitor.” Earlier， the two countries had engaged in close cooperation during international public health crises. A February 2020 report from the RAND Corporation mentioned that between 2002 and 2016， in the wake of outbreaks of SARS， bird flu， AIDS and Ebola， China and the U.S. continued deepening their collaboration in terms of public health infrastructure， professional training， information sharing and exchange. In 2009， the U.S. confronted the outbreak of a novel influenza strain—H1N1， commonly known as “swine flu，” which then began spreading around the globe. American and Chinese health authorities shared information and technology to facilitate monitoring of H1N1s spread and to develop a vaccine. China subsequently became the first country to mass-produce an H1N1 vaccine， which provided support to epidemic control in the U.S. When U.S. President Barack Obama visited China in November 2009 in the midst of the H1N1 outbreak， the two countries issued a joint statement， pledging to “deepen cooperation on global public health issues， including Influenza A （H1N1） prevention， surveillance， reporting and control， and on avian influenza， HIV/AIDS， tuberculosis， and malaria.” But since 2017， relations between the two countries have encountered a series of setbacks， leading to a cool-down in collaboration across various fields including public health.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19， U.S. President Donald Trump has praised and expressed thanks for Chinas leadership and epidemic-fighting efforts several times， claiming that the U.S. would like to offer help. During his remarks at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Lunar New Year Celebration， U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross asked for a moment of silence in sympathy of the coronavirus victims. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said that the Trump administration planned to send the “best experts from the CDC” to China， claiming that confronting virus was a “humanitarian effort” and completely disconnected from the trade talks.

But Ross also gloated in an interview that the coronavirus outbreak would potentially return some jobs to America. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared the Communist Party of China “the central threat of our times” while meeting with Britains foreign minister. In an appearance on Fox News， U.S. Senator Tom Cotton promoted the conspiracy theory that the virus could have been leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan， which was refuted by the Huffington Post. U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper received mixed reviews for their claims at the Munich Security Conference that China posed a threat to the Western world.

Although American social organizations have enthusiastically donated materials to China， support from the U.S. government has been mixed with some noise. U.S. officials repeatedly criticized China for “refusing” to receive assistance from American expert teams， calling China “not transparent and open enough.” But actually， China has continually briefed the U.S. on the situation since January 3. Despite the World Health Organizations clear statement that it does not advocate the implementation of travel and trade restrictions on China， the U.S. continued increasing travel restrictions to China， which led many countries to follow suit.

Some U.S. politicians hope the epidemic will squeeze Chinas economic growth to weaken the country or break up connections between China and the U.S. This wont happen. The SARS outbreak in 2003 made a severe impact on Chinas economy in that quarter， but the nation still reached its economic goals for the year. Many international organizations including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have predicted the epidemic will greatly affect Chinas economy in the short term， but not cause deviation from long-term economic growth. Chinas GDP accounted for only four percent of the world total in 2003 but rose to 17 percent in 2020. China has become a global manufacturing center， which means that if Chinas economic growth dropped dramatically， the global overflow effects would be huge. The U.S. cannot avoid being affected.

China and the U.S. hold a quarter of the worlds total economic aggregate. During an era of sluggish global economic growth and lingering uncertainty， increasing collaboration between China and the U.S. is not only a “humanitarian effort，” but also crucial in terms of stabilizing growth and promoting development worldwide. The epidemic has again highlighted the importance of collaboration between the two countries.