US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping finally spoke by telephone, suggesting a possible closing of ranks in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
President Xi reportedly told the US leader that he hoped the superpower would take substantive action to improve bilateral relations.
Coming as the infection figures and death toll are soaring, nothing could be more reassuring to the rest of the world.
Earlier, President Trump would throw jibes at China over the pandemic. In one of his epithets, he charged that the world was “paying a big price” for China’s lack of transparency on the outbreak.
Although the pandemic has its origins in the Chinese city of Wuhan, it has spread to more than a third of the globe, and the continued reference to it as ‘Chinese virus’ can only be inimical to the fight against it.
Chinese and American journalists working in both countries have found themselves in the crossfire of expulsions and restrictions on their operations, at a critical time.
There also seems to be incontrovertible evidence of the Beijing’s missteps in dealing with the contagion in the early stages.
A medical doctor who raised the alarm about the outbreak was shut down before he tragically contracted coronavirus and died.
It is time for anti-coronavirus action as opposed to trading blame.
The Chinese seem to be doing a remarkable job on this front, going by the plummeting domestic infections. They have even extended a helping hand to other nations that have the virus.
In these difficult times, conventional wisdom demands that the US employ its might to fight the veritable threat to human existence, not engage in unhelpful rhetoric.
It would be most unfortunate if the superpower is best remembered for having engaged in a propaganda war against a rival or enemy nation as opposed to helping humanity confront a common threat.
Credit: Source link