05.04.2020
TWO GLOBAL POWERS: DIFFERENT THINKING, DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO COVID-19
Since the first days of the appearance of the new coronavirus, the United States has been trying to blame China for the appearance of the new COVID-19 coronavirus in every possible way. Although, to be objective, the PRC has already announced the end of the epidemic within the country for a couple of weeks (by blocking the spread of infection and applying new medical methods of treatment) and all new infections today come from arrivals mainly from abroad.
At the same time, international news and social networks are full of reports about a serious crisis in the United States due to the specific policy of President D. Trump, who actually let the epidemic take its course. As a result, today in China-more than 95% of 82,000 infected people have been cured, in the United States-the number of infected people is growing every day and at the beginning of April amounted to 312,000 people (which is almost 4 times more than in China). The full situation in the world is presented in the infographic of RBC.
At 1.4 billion. at the peak of the epidemic, the People’s Republic of China allowed only about 3,000 citizens to die, and in the United States with “the most developed medicine in the world”, according to D. Trump, they allowed the uncontrolled spread of a little-studied infection and, in general, they are preparing for the death of up to 250,000 Americans, calling it a “good scenario” (it’s creepy to think what numbers the US government actually operates at closed meetings).
But it should be noted that the PRC does not gloat about this. At this difficult time, the Chinese academic community has sent an open letter to the American people, which reflects the Chinese position on the current situation. In general, this is a good move by the People’s Republic of China to make the most of public diplomacy as opposed to Washington’s politicized campaign to artificially label COVID-19 “Chinese”.
In the context of the crisis, China is trying to show that now, against the background of a global threat, is not the time for political confrontation (although if Beijing wanted to deal a sensitive blow to its American competitor, it would actually be very convenient now, but China, on the contrary, demonstrates a peaceful approach).
In addition to active humanitarian assistance to about 136 States, such open messages will allow China to significantly improve the perception of its policy in the world and, accordingly, receive even greater support for its initiatives at the international level. “A friend is known in trouble” – this wisdom is known to many peoples, and now it is exactly the situation when its meaning is obvious to everyone on the planet.
Now, helping many countries to fight the pandemic, the People’s Republic of China is actually building a global Silk belt of health (Health Silk Road) – without excessive propaganda and political advertising. Earlier, Beijing did not have a convenient opportunity to demonstrate its intentions to the world community, the COVID-19 pandemic, along with challenges and losses, brought China and a good chance to show itself to the world profitably.
An open letter to the residents of the United States from 100 Chinese scientists, published in the journal The Diplomat
“At a time when the world is facing the most dangerous infectious disease of the century, politicized criticism will not help either China, the United States, or the world in the fight against the spread of the virus.”
Dear American friends,
We are a group of 100 Chinese scientists representing various fields of science, including philosophy, political science, economics, medicine, international relations, sociology, law, communications, military science and technology. Several university professors from Wuhan are members of our group. Despite the fact that we represent different fields of science, we, as intellectuals, are united by the desire to convey our concern about the well-being of people both in China and in the United States and every country in the world.
Recently, we have been hearing a lot of critical responses politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time when the world is facing the most dangerous infectious disease of the century, politicized criticism will not help either China, the United States, or the world to curb the spread of the virus. Political disputes do not contribute to the healthy development of Sino-American relations, just as they do not help the inhabitants of the planet to rationally and accurately understand and cope with the pandemic. Today we want to sincerely and frankly share our views with our American friends.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health crisis of terrifying proportions that has not been seen before; efforts to overcome both the pandemic itself and its consequences will be a long and difficult global struggle. Countries should work together, not complain and blame each other. The virus knows no borders, but love and friendship are also limitless. Cooperation between China and the United States – the two great powers of the planet – can and should be used to achieve more useful results for all mankind. Respect for science, concern for life and protection of people from harm should become our common goals in the fight against COVID-19.
The COVID-19 outbreak in China is currently mostly under control. Since the virus first appeared in early January, the Chinese have made unimaginable efforts and made great sacrifices to achieve hard-won results.
We are grateful to the international community, including our American friends, for their donations and support during the most critical period of the struggle. We support the program and policy of containing the epidemic implemented by other countries in accordance with their own conditions, and we are ready to share our experience, as well as provide these States with all possible assistance.
At this stage of the pandemic, the source and origin of COVID-19 remain uncertain, but these questions are not so important, and mutual reproaches are offensive and harmful to everyone. In the end, we will all agree with the verdict of the scientists. Like many other countries, China is a victim of this virus, and is successfully overcoming it, and therefore is ready to cooperate with the residents of other countries in the fight against the pandemic.
We sincerely hope to cooperate with the international community, including intellectuals and US experts who believe in a bright future. We look forward to the time when the principles of international cooperation will once again flourish around the world. We call on all peoples to cooperate to defeat the common enemy of humanity.
We hope that soon we will be able to celebrate the final victory over COVID-19!
Signed by 100 scientists of China – the names of all the signatories from the Chinese side are available in the original source: https://thediplomat.com/…/an-open-letter-to-the-people-of…/…
China Studies Centre,
Nur-Sultan, 2020
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