Amidst the ongoing pandemic, tensions between the United States have started to rise. Both countries pointing blame as to contributing to the spread of the virus. Officials within the United States government have repeatedly criticized China for withholding information about how serious the virus was, and how contagious it is. According to The Hill “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien have blamed China for suppressing information about the coronavirus early on, pointing to reports of efforts to silence doctors who sounded alarms about the virus”. While on the other hand, China has been displeased with the United State’s lack of immediate action to prevent people from spreading it to one other. While there are social distancing and at-home lockdowns in place now, China was saying this is something that should have been done much earlier.
Just yesterday, President Trump and President Xi discussed matters over the phone, with both claiming they have reached a better understanding as to how to combat this pandemic cooperatively instead of with blame towards each other. Over the past several days, Trump has noticeably stopped referring to the virus as the Chinese Virus, as many people spoke out as to how this could have racist implications and cause discrimination and hate against Asians. In response to this, Trump was quoted saying “I don’t have to say it, if they feel so strongly about it” (NBC).
Personally, I believe that there is no need to specifically put blame towards China during these difficult times. This virus is something that humanity has to come together to fight, so blame this on an entire nation or a group of people only divides us and our common goal in eradicating the coronavirus once and for all.
Both countries have agreed to share as much research and data with each other as possible, so everybody can be informed and updated on the situation. This will be helpful because it will allow both countries to look at the data and understand the best preventative measures and best treatments when combating this virus. President Xi was quoted saying “Cooperation is the only correct choice. I hope the U.S side could take real actions. The two sides should work together to enhance cooperation fighting the virus and develop non-confrontational relations” (Bloomberg). Hopefully, the United States and China can follow through on their promises of cooperation, as it will benefit us all.