United States President Donald Trump accused Beijing of concealing significant facts about the pandemic when the problem first escalated in Wuhan. He highlighted that such action led to the paralyzed economy of the US today. The report claimed that the President's tone in his statement has changed since he had recently been friendly towards China and while both countries were engaged in a trade deal.
According to the New York Times, speaking at a White House briefing by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the negative tone of Trump was after he stayed friendly with Chinese President Xi Jinping and claimed that China has been doing a 'very professional job' in containing the pandemic.
The report then claimed that the negative tone of the President may lead to a Cold War and could undermine the efforts instilled by both camps in developing the trade deal for better results. Some health officials even warned that denouncing China's government could lead to more resistance in sharing accurate data about the pandemic.
China, on the other hand, had shared the genome sequence of the virus and its scientists have written numerous public papers on the virus. The report also claimed that China has a significant role in medical supply chains in the United States. Furthermore, it was revealed that the country's economic policies are crucial to the global economy.
According to a China expert and professor of trade policy at Cornell University Eswar Prasad, the hostility between the countries today is 'dispiriting', He claimed that their trade relationship has capsized and at a very inopportune time. Prasad added that the two countries should be joining forces to alleviate the adverse effects of the pandemic to the global economy and aid each other in sustaining quality public health, economic activity, and financial markets.
Former diplomat and deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs of the Obama administration Kelly Magsamen added that competition between the countries could mean bad news for containment efforts against the virus. She noted that the US should be working together with China to establish a solution instead of going against each other.
Stephen K. Bannon, a former Trump White House strategist and leading conservative critic of the Chinese Communist Party revealed that there exists an economic battle between the world's strongest economies.
Bannon added that the tensions from both countries could lead to greater threats against the Chinese people and the world's population. Trump's advisers including Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin raised that antagonizing China over strategic issues would lead to greater disruptions and threatens economic cooperation required for the interconnected global economy. He also noted that China has greater power in this area.
