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Despite their strategic rivalry, the United States and China have a history of coordinating in past public health and economic crises. Now that they are tipping into enmity, it may take other countries to nudge them back toward collaboration and joint action.
With well over 870,000 confirmed infections and 40,000 deaths worldwide, COVID-19, the disease caused by the fast-spreading new coronavirus, has caused global havoc.
In any crisis, even in the midst of a pandemic, there is a moment where everybody might benefit from taking a deep breath and thinking clearly about the way forward.
The United States and China worked together to combat the SARS and H5N1 outbreaks, but the new coronavirus has been met with finger-pointing and recrimination.
Can the World Health Organization (WHO) be better than the member states of the United Nations that ultimately have a considerable say on its operations?
China’s producers hope to restore capacity in the weeks ahead, but sagging demand in export markets could hold back economic recovery.
China has tried to carefully manage relations with the United States while deploying its expanded economic and military strength around the world. The coronavirus has further strained China’s ties with the United States and raised questions about Beijing’s global leadership.
The coronavirus outbreak has exposed just how difficult it’s becoming for China and the United States to cooperate—even in situations when the lives of their citizens are at stake.
The coronavirus has taken a devastating toll on its victims in China and elsewhere. But the epidemic has also exposed the downsides of leaning too heavily on China to power neighboring economies.
The U.S.-China trade deal undermines the interests of the broader global community in favor of the arbitrary whims of great powers. When it all falls apart—and takes out remaining parts of the current trade order with it—even Trump may find that the United States is worse off.