src='https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-2513966551258002'/>
Rightways: World Health Organization (WHO)
Infolinks.com, 2618740 , RESELLER
India is at a critical moment of fighting the virus. Yet some Indian media outlets and politicians are still manipulating politics, slandering China with an attempt to shift contradictions away from their failed policies. India has descended into a COVID-19 mess. Indian media and politicians should bear a large part of the blame. It's a tragedy for the Indian people.
In recent days, some news channels in India have been busy spreading the groundless conspiracy theories that "the coronavirus is a bio-weapon created in a Wuhan lab." As the new wave of COVID-19 wreaks havoc on India, they have hyped up conspiracy theories and old lies cooked up by some Western media and politicians last year, baselessly accusing China of "weaponizing the virus." Some Indian media's professionalism, cognition and sense of social responsibility are really jaw-dropping.
With India caught up in the crisis and as criticisms of the Indian government's response increase, the "lab leak" conspiracy theory has attracted some new attention in India, ranging from news channels to politicians. Earlier this month, some Indian ministers and BJP leaders shared an article on Twitter. The article warned Indians not to fall into the opposition's trap of making Prime Minister Narendra Modi the scapegoat. It said, "very few are talking about China and the possibility that the virus has been unleashed to weaken India."
The "lab leak" theory has been largely discarded by the world. A World Health Organization report in late March concluded that it's "extremely unlikely" that the virus was leaked from a lab. It's really ridiculous and clumsy for some Indian media outlets to flog a dead horse. And it's easy to figure out their real purpose.
Long Xingchun, a senior research fellow with the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at the Beijing Foreign Studies University and president of the Chengdu Institute of World Affairs, said the purpose of hyping the "lab leak" theory is obvious: deflecting public attention. With no sign of abating, the raging epidemic in India has aggravated public dissatisfaction.
By hyping-up the "lab leak" theory, some Indian media outlets and politicians are attempting to divert the public's anger to China. "For countries with an electoral system like India, the top consideration for some politicians is not people's health and lives, but votes. Accusing China of unleashing the virus to weaken India provides a good excuse for India to defend its anti-epidemic response and economic downturn," Long said.
China has refuted the lies of the "lab leak" theory many times. China has strictly fulfilled its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention and does not develop, research or produce bio-weapons.
If the Indian media and politicians are really keen on figuring out whether the virus is a bio-weapon, they should ask Washington to clarify the US' biological militarization activities inside and outside the country and to disclose the real purpose of its more than 200 biological laboratories overseas. India could also demand an international inquiry.
It looks like some Indian media outlets and politicians are resorting to the old scheme of the former Trump administration, which tried every possible means to shift the blame onto China for its failed coronavirus response.
Just have a look at the results of Trump and his failed secretary of state Mike Pompeo. They didn't focus on fighting the epidemic, but instead played tricks to politicize the virus, concocting political manipulations to discredit China. As a result, the US witnessed the highest COVID-19 death toll. This became the main reason why Trump lost the election.
Since the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak hit India, China has expressed its goodwill and taken concrete actions to provide necessary support and help to India. China has sent life-saving supplies such as ventilators, oxygen generators, masks and medicines to India. This has shown China's goodwill and humanitarianism.
However, some Indian media outlets and politicians are requiting kindness with ingratitude. They have slandered China's help, tried to play the Taiwan card, attempted to sow discord between China and neighboring countries, and devilishly spread rumors and lies to discredit China. They are shameless and have no moral bottom. What they are now doing is no different from creating a humanitarian disaster in India. It's the Indian people that will have to bear this egregious suffering.
The WHO's emergency approval of China's COVID-19 vaccine will boost global vaccine supply amid shortfall as China's overall yearly production capacity is approaching five billion doses, observers said.
The WHO gave Emergency Use Listing (EUL) to Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday afternoon, making it the sixth vaccine and the first made by a non-Western country to receive WHO validation for its safety, efficacy and quality. This will send a statement to Western media's doubts and questions over the vaccine's authenticity, observers noted.
The other five COVID-19 vaccines previously approved by the WHO were made by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.
The approval allows Sinopharm to become a qualified supplier to the COVAX platform that aims to provide two billion doses to developing countries and regions by the end of 2021. As of Friday, 54 million doses had been delivered to 121 participants of the program.
India was supposed to deliver one billion shots through COVAX, but the plan has been halted due to the ongoing severe outbreak in the country.
With a huge supply-demand gap, the world is in urgent need for Chinese vaccines. In most low-income regions, Chinese vaccines are the only choice they have. This comes as the US and Europe are busy grabbing and overbuying shots for themselves, experts said.
The emergency approval for Chinese vaccines will largely expand COVAX supply as China's production is likely to reach five billion doses by the end of this year, Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based vaccine expert, told the Global Times on Saturday.
Chinese manufacturers are already providing vaccines to about 80 countries. The Global Times learned from Sinovac, another Chinese manufacturer whose COVID-19 vaccine is undergoing WHO review for EUL and the result is scheduled to come out next week, that they had produced 300 million doses as of April 28 with about 60 percent being delivered overseas.
On Thursday, Sinopharm announced the completion of phase-three construction of its production factory for the Beijing institute vaccine. It is the world's largest COVID-19 vaccine production factory and will ramp up the group's production capacity to three billion per year.
Sinovac has said that their production capacity will reach two billion doses per year after their production factory is completed in June.
Some experts have expressed concerns over challenges in delivery and application. Especially due to the underdeveloped infrastructure in most developing regions, but Chinese manufacturers are making efforts to tackle these challenges.
The Sinopharm product is an inactivated vaccine called SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Vero Cell) that can be delivered through common cold chain with temperatures between 2 C and 8 C. While Moderna vaccine has to be stored in a temperature of at least -20 C, while the Pfizer vaccine at -70 C.
Sinopharm vaccine's easy storage requirements make it highly suitable for low-resource settings, WHO said in a statement on Friday.
It is also the first vaccine that will carry a vaccine vial monitor. The vial monitor is a small sticker on the vaccine vial that change color when the vaccine is exposed to heat, letting health workers know whether the vaccine can be safely used, according to the statement.
The sticker clearly shows the degree of over exposure to high temperatures and ensure the safety of the vaccine's application in different environments, Tao said.
China can assist regions with unsatisfactory infrastructure conditions with cold-chain vehicles as well as training for health workers on vaccination, experts noted.
Some foreign news medias had long been questioning the efficacy and safety of the Sinopharm vaccine due to fewer data on its clinical trials. The data had not been released until the latest document uploaded by the WHO on the assessment of Sinopharm's vaccine.
The WHO document confirms experts have an "overall confidence" in its ability to prevent COVID-19, while having "low confidence" on the risk of side effects for older patients.
WHO said in the Friday statement that they are not recommending an upper age limit for the vaccine because preliminary data and supportive immunogenicity data suggest the vaccine is likely to have a protective effect in older people. "There is no theoretical reason to believe that the vaccine has a different safety profile in older and younger populations."
In the safety ranking, the top four are all Chinese vaccines
- reported by The New York Times on Feb 5, 2021.
1. Sinopharm (China)
2. Sinovac (China)
3. Kexing (China)
4. Can Sino (China)
5. AstraZeneca (UK)
6. Pfizer (United States and Germany)
7. Modena (United States)
8. Johnson & Johnson (United States)
9. Novavax (United States)
10. Satellite 5 (Russia)
Sinopharm has two vaccines, ranking first and second respectively.
China
has exported more than 500 million doses of vaccines to more than 50
countries around the world, and it is estimated that hundreds of
millions of people have been vaccinated. And China's vaccine accident
rate is lower and safer.
As reported by Western media, many wealthy people in Britain fly to the UAE to vaccinate Chinese national medicine.
China has provided 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines
to the world, and it can fulfill the 2-billion-dose pledge, an official
with the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Friday on the
sidelines of the China International Fair for Trade ...
The Global Times reporter Hu Yuwei (GT) recently talked
exclusively to the German-based vaccine developer BioNTech's CEO, Ugur
Sahin (Sahin) who expressed his strong confidence in the marketing
prospects of the vaccine in China. The approval has entered the final
...
The headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland
Highlights from WHO-China joint report on coronavirus origins: -A lab leak was "extremely unlikely" -Huanan seafood market was NOT the original source of the outbreak -It’s important to investigate “potential early events” of COVID-19 cases in different countries
Peter
Ben Embarek (center) talks with Liang Wannian (left) and Marion Koopmans (right) after a press conference to wrap up a visit by an
international team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) in the city of Wuhan, in Central China's Hubei
.
If WHO scientists cannot find the answer in China regarding coronavirus origins, maybe it's time for scientists to dig somewhere else and test more hypotheses to solve the mystery, Chinese scientists from the WHO-China virus tracing team suggested, after a joint WHO-China report on tracing the origins of coronavirus was released on Tuesday, which still leaves the virus origins question unanswered.
.
The report, generated after WHO experts visited Wuhan, the Chinese city first reporting a COVID-19 case, dismissed the "lab-leak" conspiracy theory, and recommended transmissions between animals and humans, and transmissions through frozen food, which is consistent with what WHO experts said in a February conference in Wuhan. It also suggested the 7th Military World Games, which was held in Wuhan in October 2019, two months before the first case in this city was reported, is worth digging into.
.
Before official release on Tuesday, Western politicians and media once again cast the report, pre-leaked to media earlier, in doubt, questioning the investigation's transparency , impartiality and the involvement of Chinese government in the writing of the report. Chinese experts in this joint team refuted such baseless claims, saying the Chinese side has provided what it could, and it is willing to assist any further origins investigation in other places since it has mature technology on virus detecting and tracing.
.
The report pointed to a possible path of transmission between animals and humans and transmission through frozen food. It also said that the lab-leak theory is "extremely unlikely", which is consistent with what Peter Ben Embarek, a Danish food safety scientist leading the WHO team, said in Wuhan in early February, when wrapping up the WHO visit.
.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday night it appreciates the scientific, diligent and professional spirit of the WHO-China expert team and calls for further investigation in other countries and places to trace the virus origins as it is a global task after WHO released the joint report.
.
Politicizing the tracing work will only seriously hamper global cooperation on virus tracing, undermine global anti-epidemic efforts and lead to more loss of life. This runs counter to the desire of the international community to unite and fight the epidemic, FM said in a statement released on Tuesday night.
. The WHO report also touched upon the hypothesis of the 7th Military World Games regarding virus origins, a possibility previously raised by a Chinese epidemiologist. The WHO report said that "no appreciable signals of clusters of fever or severe respiratory disease requiring hospitalization were identified during a review of these events," but recommended a further joint review of the data on respiratory illness from on-site clinics during the games.
.
"The hypothesis was raised by foreign experts during our communication," a Chinese expert from the joint team's animals and environment group told the Global Times. He said that large international events need to be considered as an option during origins tracing work of an epidemic.
.
The Chinese expert, who asked for anonymity, said that they obtained records from the Wuhan government, which show many countries had transported food to Wuhan during the event, many via cold chain route. "But now we only have records, no samples, so it will be difficult for us to find the evidence," he admitted.
.
The scientist also said it is highly probable that the virus was transmitted via cold chain, given the fact that cold chains triggered most of the later outbreaks in China after the one in Wuhan. "But at the early stage, all eyes were fixed on animals, so not enough samples were connected in the cold chain environment," said the expert, suggesting further research in this area.
.
The WHO report further suggests that animals in livestock farms in Southeast Asia could be "linked to early human cases" and that further study on these farms is needed.
.
The anonymous expert said that given the geographic adjacency and frequent exchanges between China and Southeast Asia countries, such a proposal is reasonable.
.
"Yunnan borders Southeast Asia, and bats travel frequently, which gives rise to the possibility of passing the virus to other animals and between each other," he said, noting that a batch of pangolins, which tested positive for coronavirus, were smuggled from other countries.
.
At a Friday conference, Feng Zijian, Deputy Director-General of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China's CDC), who is also the expert of the WHO joint team, said that there is a virus highly similar to COVID-19 in bats and pangolins in terms of virus sequencing. However, it's proven not to be a direct ancestor, while more animal species, including minks and cats, are worthy of inquiry as likely potential natural hosts of the virus.
. According to the report, data suggests that the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, where large clusters of infections were found, was not the original source of the outbreak.
. "The place which saw the first outbreak does not necessarily make it the origins of the virus," another member of the joint expert team, who preferred anonymity, told the Global Times.
.
The expert said there's nothing strange about the fact that a scientific conclusion about the virus has yet to be found. On the other hand, it implies the difficulty in tracing virus origins. "Virus origins tracing work of previous large-scale epidemics was conducted by scientists in different countries and regions," said the scientist, urging global virus tracing, especially since mounting evidence suggesting that there were positive coronavirus samples found in other countries before the Wuhan outbreak.
. He suggested further study of positive coronavirus samples found in human and environment before January 2020.
.
China has done what it can do in helping find the origins of the virus. If the answer could not be found here, maybe it's time to find it in other places, and test more hypotheses, according to the expert from joint team's animals and environment group. China is willing to assist virus origins tracing work in other places, as it has already grasped such technologies and methodologies, the expert said.
. Doubt from West
.
Western media and politicians could not wait to fire torrents of criticism toward the report, which was leaked to some media before its publication.
.
Among the most vocal critics were US media outlets such as the New York Times and Washington Post, which questioned the report's impartiality as they hyped that WHO experts weren't given full access in Wuhan and the Chinese government exerted pressure on the UN body.
.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN last week that he had concerns about "the methodology and the process," including "the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped write it."
.
Such accusation was slammed by Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.
.
"The US kept showing its 'concerns' over the report. Is it attempting to exert pressure on WHO experts?" Zhao asked. "Please ask the experts which parts of the report the Chinese government helped them to write. Does China's facilitation on traceability research also behind-the-scenes manipulation?"
.
"What they needed, we gave them, including files," said the expert, explaining certain documents were restricted because it involved patients' sensitive personal information.
.
In an exclusive interview with the Global Times, Liang Wannian, team leader of the Chinese side of the WHO-China joint expert team, said that the Chinese side showed the WHO experts raw data one by one, such as the early case database and epidemiological survey forms of field use.
.
Foreign experts, including Peter Daszak, a British-born zoologist, who is president of the NGO EcoHealth Alliance in New York City, and Peter Ben Embarek from the WHO team, have repeatedly denied accusation of limited access in Wuhan.
. Those Western countries only want WHO to pinpoint Wuhan as the origins of the virus, and better prove the virus was leaked from lab; if not, they just launched a smear campaign at China, said experts.
The US has been doing the worst job in the global pandemic fight. It not only has been jealous of and attacked China's excellent response to the pandemic, but it has also exerted pressure on WHO. Washington is rude. It has torn down all kinds of common sense about public health and humiliated science with
politics.
The Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) isolated the
first viral strain of the novel coronavirus and handed it over to the
World Health Organization (WHO) as early as January 12, 2020, media
reported.
The World Health Organization’s director-general expressed regret Wednesday at President Trump’s intent to withhold funding, and said the agency would seek to fill financing gaps from other donors as it battles the coronavirus pandemic.
US allies line up to condemn Donald Trump’s WHO funding suspension
EU foreign policy chief captures chorus of concern as health body expresses regret and assesses financial hit
President Donald Trump’s decision to halt US funding to the World Health Organization has triggered heavy criticism at home and abroad for depriving the global body of its biggest donor as it battles the coronavirus pandemic.
Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief, captured a chorus of international concern when he warned that all countries must work together closely to stem the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Deeply regret US decision to suspend funding to WHO,” he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “There is no reason justifying this move at a moment when their efforts are needed more than ever to help contain & mitigate the coronavirus pandemic.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, expressed regret at Mr Trump’s decision and said his organisation was assessing the impact and how to fill any funding gaps.
“This is a time for all of us to be united in our common struggle against a common threat, a dangerous enemy,” he told reporters. “When we are divided the virus exploits the cracks between us.”
Mr Trump shocked European allies on Tuesday when he announced that hundreds of millions of dollars in US funding would be suspended while a review was conducted to assess the WHO’s “role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus”.
He also criticised the organisation’s relationship with China. “American taxpayers provide between $400m-$500m per year to the WHO, in contrast China contributes roughly $40m a year, even less,” Mr Trump said. “As the organisation’s leading sponsor, the US has a duty to insist on full accountability.”
Critics countered that the White House was undermining the international response to the Covid-19 pandemic and other serious diseases in an effort to distract attention from questions over its own handling of the health emergency.
This is the time for solidarity, not for finger-pointing or undermining multilateral co-operation.
The European Commission said the EU backed the WHO in its efforts to contain the pandemic, had already provided additional funding and was looking into what it and its member states could do in response to the US move.
“This is the time for solidarity, not for finger-pointing or undermining multilateral co-operation,” the Commission said.
Ursula von der Leyen, Commission president, is due to host an online pledging conference on May 4 that will look at immediate funding gaps in combating the pandemic.
In Germany, Heiko Maas, foreign minister, said it did not help to “apportion blame” over the pandemic. Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, slammed Mr Trump’s decision as “indefensible” in the “midst of global pandemic”.
Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, branded the US move “very alarming”. “This is an example of a very selfish approach by the US authorities,” he said, according to the Tass news agency.
Mr Trump’s move was also condemned by Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder and billionaire head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,” he wrote on Twitter.
The US, where more than 26,000 people have died from Covid-19, the largest official national death toll, is the largest single contributor to the WHO. Of the roughly $500m it provides annually, $116m is mandated by the UN and about another $400m is in voluntary payments.
In Washington, the president’s move came under heavy fire from Democrats, while Republicans were largely supportive. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, described it as an “illegal” move that would be “swiftly challenged”.
“The president’s halting of funding to the WHO as it leads the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic is senseless,” she added.
Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, said it was a “dangerous and reckless” move at a time when people in the US and across the world were dying from the virus.
But Republicans were supportive either because of concerns that the organization was too China-centric — echoing the claims of Mr Trump — or because of unease about international institutions.
“This is a critical time for worldwide public health and we cannot afford China apologists running the WHO,” said Lindsey Graham, a senator who generally backs US international engagement. “I support a suspension of funding . . . until there is new leadership at the WHO.”
Stephen Griffin, associate professor at the school of medicine at the UK’s University of Leeds, said Mr Trump’s decision was perhaps “one of the least productive, most short-sighted, self-motivated and hypocritical acts I have ever witnessed”.
China’s foreign ministry said Washington’s decision would “weaken the capabilities of the WHO, harm international co-operation against the epidemic, and affect various countries including the US itself domestically”.
But Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison also expressed concerns about the WHO’s handling of the pandemic, calling for greater transparency from the health body on the causes of the outbreak.
US
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with patients who have
recovered from the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Cabinet Room of
the White House in Washington, DC on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Washington was suspending funding to World Health Organization (WHO) while reviewing over the organization's "role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus." Since last week, Trump has launched a barrage of attacks on WHO, accusing the organization of being "China centric."
Mainstream public opinion both in the US and abroad believes Trump is anxiously making WHO a scapegoat to divert increasingly fiercer domestic criticisms for his botched epidemic response.
It should be taken as part of Trump's reelection campaign. Attacking WHO and labeling it as "China centric" could incite many Americans to unleash their anger over the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans amid the pandemic as well as their severely impacted life. Canvassing gatherings cannot be held at this moment, so finding scapegoats to let voters vent their anger has become the best campaign tactic. The US recent years has intensified its anti-China ideology, targeting WHO and China together could fan as much nationalism as possible in the US and covertly boost Trump's reelection.
Those in the US Congress who are furiously blasting WHO are from the Republican party. The White House has taken state apparatuses and public interests as campaign resources. Such political operations are quite immoral.
The global virus fight is at a critical juncture. The novel coronavirus is launching indiscriminate attacks against all the people regardless of nationality or race. WHO is the authoritative body that can coordinate the global anti-virus fight. Washington's crackdown on the WHO is a blow to the global endeavor against the coronavirus. The US is making lives of numerous people pay the price for its political infighting. This is a bloody plan.
So far epicenters of the pandemic are mainly in relatively developed regions and those hardest hit countries have comparatively strong ability to stem the pandemic on their own.
However, the risk of pandemic hitting underdeveloped areas is growing increasingly high. Those countries will tend to rely more on the support and assistance of the WHO. Any move at this time that may paralyze and weaken WHO will foster the pandemic and place human beings in a more vulnerable situation.
Washington's attack on the WHO is so unpopular that no country in the world has yet echoed. Only the Taiwan bogus regime supported Washington out of its own political interests. This isolated camp - the US plus the island of Taiwan - well explains "an unjust cause finds scant support."
Washington's attempts to shift the blame onto other countries and international organizations are doomed to fail. Its own mistakes cannot be more obvious, and buck-passing will only drive people to further investigate and define its responsibility for improper handling of the outbreak.
The US' attacks against the WHO is groundless. Taking buck-passing as one of the main battlefields of the presidential election will very much likely to suffer losses.
A sovereign country that investigates the WHO and treats international organizations so arrogantly won't be supported by international law.
Washington evaluates the WHO in accordance with how the organization has served the US. This goes against the purpose of WHO.
Such an arbitrary and overbearing act will surely help the world see clearly the true nature of the ongoing conflicts between the US and international organizations.
The US has no ability to reconstruct an international system. What it is doing now is pure destruction. The acts of the US are throwing the world into chaos and crippling the global system. The US political and legal framework cannot restrain its government from acting at its own will. This is the misfortune of the US and the entire world.
US President Donald Trump's decision to suspend US
payments to the World Health Organization in the midst of the present
pandemic is outrageous and grossly irresponsible, which prioritizes his
own electoral fortunes over the needs of the American people and people
around the world, Martin Jacques, a senior fellow at the Department of
Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University, told the
Global Times via email.
Public health crises do not happen often, but once they
do, they expose the various flaws of a system. It remains to be seen how
the US reforms its system to address the flaws, or just looks for a
scapegoat.
Perhaps the biggest lesson that we should learn from the
COVID-19 pandemic is countries with different political systems and
ideologies should unite to deal with our common enemy. Learning to
coexist may be the goal of human development in the future as well as
the solution to global problems.
The ruling elites in Washington are living in a fantasy
where they think blurring the facts and spreading their slander allows
them to call white for black.
The director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, delivered a powerful warning to world leaders to not politicize the response to COVID-19, saying doing so will lead to more deaths.
"If we want to win, please quarantine politicizing COVID-19," Tedros said.
Tedros made the stern comments at a WHO press briefing Wednesday in response to a question about recent criticisms made by U.S. President Donald Trump, defending the organization about what they've done since the first known case was brought to their attention 100 days ago.
"So my advice, three things," the director-general said, "please, unity at the national level, no using COVID for political points. Second, honest solidarity at the global level. And honest leadership from the U.S. and China."
Tedros also got personal, saying he received many criticisms and even death threats over the last three months, but cares more about humanity being insulted with politicizing a virus that has killed more than 60,000 people so far.
“If you don’t want any more body bags, then you must refrain from politicizing it.”
The WHO has been criticized for its decision not to call COVID-19 a pandemic until March 11, long after many experts suggested it should do so.
US hegemony in peril amid COVID-19 pandemic
The raging COVID-19 pandemic not only challenges and tests the ability of countries to contain the virus but also has far-reaching implications for the international system, which has become a catalyst in accelerating the evolution of the current international order.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump lashed out at the World Health Organization (WHO), accusing the world health body, which is largely funded by the US, as "China centric" and threatened to halt its funding. Echoing Trump, his right-hand man US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday the US administration is reevaluating WHO funding, adding "we take taxpayer money and give it to them for the benefit of America, we need to make sure it's delivering on those taxpayer dollars." Such remarks are worthy of attention as they have eroded the moral ground of the US hegemony and forced people to contemplate on how to effectively provide the world the much-needed public goods during these changing times.
In the fight against the novel coronavirus, WHO, an international intergovernmental organization within the framework of the United Nations, has played its proper role in releasing information, sharing data and material and raising cautions. To be fair, WHO has done everything in its power to address the COVID-19 pandemic challenges within its existing framework and responsibilities.
From a theoretical perspective of international relations, the US, as a hegemonic power and global leader, should assume responsibility for providing the global public goods. The worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus suggests that the problem is not about outdated global governance or a global governance surplus, but there is insufficient traction of global governance. The key reason is the US, at the center of global leadership, does not have enough capacity or willingness to provide the global public goods. The two pillars of US hegemony - military strength and financial system - can only play a very limited role in this fight against the virus. Given the US' prevailing attitude toward the WHO, it is necessary to reconsider the US and European countries' real purpose of establishing international organizations, and whether this purpose meets people's needs and the challenges that the world will face in the future.
Be it the US or Europe, both initially showed their contempt and disregard when facing the global spread of COVID-19, followed by a shortsighted approach. The US and Europe could have had enough time to react and they possess sufficient resources and technology. However, the pandemic befell because of their visible loopholes in cognition and emergency action capabilities.
From this point of view, the COVID-19 outbreak, and the statements and actions made by the US and the efforts of developed European countries to shirk responsibility reflect that they have given up the leadership roles and obligations of global governance that they once took for granted. The immediate consequence is that the moral ground - the most important asset of US hegemony - has been severely slashed.
This moral basis was established through the long-term dissemination of liberalism and neoliberalism during and after the Cold War. Its core idea is to emphasize the "morality" behind the US hegemony and the justice of the public goods that the US provides for the whole world. By providing such public goods, the US has gained leadership and influence of the international community. However, the US has not shown enough convincing leadership in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, new leadership in global governance has begun to shift to countries with the will and ability.
For the emerging countries, represented by China, they have a clear understanding or even consensus on the direction of the new approach to global governance. In other words, governance must strive to achieve the basic vision of a community with a shared future for mankind. Only in the common interest of mankind, such as human life and health, can governance reach a higher level of international coordination and respond more effectively to the impacts, challenges, and tests of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the ups and downs, the general trend of globalization is irreversible. Since the US is somehow willing to give up its constructive role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the history will inevitably move forward to completely turn the page of US hegemony.
The US State Department's claim that the US is "deeply
disturbed Taiwan's information was withheld from the global health
community" is not fact and is politically motivated to shift focus and
blame, which does nothing to ease the COVID-19 outbreak in the US and
only undermines its credibility, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on
Friday.
If US politicians and the larger American society don't
reflect on their own shortcomings and continue to shift the blame on
others, and among each other, then the entire American population will
be in the dark.
Washington should stop its hypocritical political games.
They are of no help for the US to combat the coronavirus. Only by
effectively reducing the losses of the American people can US
politicians finally recover their political losses.
People stand near the Yangtze River in the city of Wuhan, on April 6. In
recent weeks, officials have gradually eased some of the lockdown
measures, allowing a limited number of residents to leave their
residential compounds for a short time. China lifts lockdown on Wuhan as city reemerges from coronavirus crisis -
https://youtu.be/xBiJLJIOyWo
https://youtu.be/mkCH8JQx8IQ
What does Wuhan tell us?
https://youtu.be/q_z7dX4lGl0
What can we learn from the Wuhan lockdown?
https://youtu.be/jXvDcAFj6zk
Let Wuhan's sacrifice not be in vain
https://youtu.be/YH6JjdANIPY
Can China and the U.S. join hands amid hardship?
https://youtu.be/CcSi-dVgjkg
COVID-19 cases still rising in U.S., deaths surpass 12,000
This is the moment that Wuhan, China, reopened. The city was under lockdown for the last 76 days amid a tight coronavirus quarantine. Home to over 11 million people, the Chinese city celebrated its reopening with a midnight light show.
As the rest of the world tackles the coronavirus pandemic, China has been sending medical support across the globe to help other countries.
This is the moment that Wuhan, China, reopened. The city was under lockdown for the last 76 days amid a tight coronavirus quarantine. Home to over 11 million people, the Chinese city celebrated its reopening with a midnight light show.
As the rest of the world tackles the coronavirus pandemic, China has been sending medical support across the globe to help other countries.
Many families have been apart since the lockdown began, and now that travel restrictions have been lifted many reunion are happening across the city.
Before the city was reopened, Central China's Hubei Province said on Tuesday it will stick to first-level emergency response in tackling COVID-19, even as its capital, Wuhan, lifts travel restrictions.
Provincial colleges, primary and secondary schools, secondary vocational schools, technical colleges and kindergartens will continue to postpone the start of new semester, said the notice.
Hu Shuguang, Wuhan's Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said epidemic control and prevention remain top priority in Wuhan, and people should stay alert.
Hu stressed that reporting no new case doesn't mean there's zero risk of the virus in Wuhan. The epidemic control and prevention task remains critical.
As for now, many residents are celebrating, while remaining alert for signs of the virus.
Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, restarts
on Wednesday after a 76-day lockdown as local authorities officially
lift outbound travel restrictions, signaling the normal resumption of
life for the city of 11 million people and a phased victory in combating
the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19).
The Chinese people need to become mentally stronger, not
feeling as nervous as before when facing a new reported case. Local
governments must guard against any sign of the epidemic while promoting
resumption of work and production. This is a test for the entire Chinese
society.
Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers in
China are going full speed ahead to produce what US President Donald
Trump has called a "game-changer" as well as other APIs to help
countries around the world combat the COVID-19 pandemic, as India moves
to partially resume exports of two crucial drugs.
Washington should stop its hypocritical political games.
They are of no help for the US to combat the coronavirus. Only by
effectively reducing the losses of the American people can US
politicians finally recover their political losses
Those who had been staying in Wuhan since the city's
lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic keep asking themselves for
more than two months: What do I want to do the most after the lockdown
is lifted and life returns to normal?
Chinese Ambassador to the UK
Liu Xiaoming stressed unity and cooperation in the fight against
COVID-19 in an Evening Standard article published on Tuesday.
Sinopharm vaccine File photo:VCG
