The Sunday Mail
Jun Sheng
AS of May 28, Beijing Time (GMT +8), the United States had reported more than 1,74 million confirmed Covid-19 cases with over 102 000 deaths.
Both figures are the highest in the world.
In the face of the poor pandemic response, economic slowdown, bipartisan hostility and divided public opinions — some US politicians are busy, not battling the outbreak and saving lives, but shifting the blame and putting on one disgusting farce after another.
The US stood by with folded arms at the onset of the outbreak of the coronavirus when it first appeared in China.
On January 30, a senior US official claimed in an interview that “the viral outbreak in China could offer upside to the US economy by encouraging manufacturers to move back to America”.
His remarks astonished the world.
While China was at its most difficult stage, battling the virus, senior US officials, instead of showing the slightest sign of morality and compassion, gloated over China’s misfortune and were preoccupied with taking advantage of it for their own benefit.
The US buried its head in the sand of arrogance and self-conceit.
China began to regularly notify the World Health Organisation (WHO), countries and regions, including the US of its outbreak information and containment measures from January 3.
From then on to early March, when the pandemic picked up speed sweeping across the US, Washington played down the pandemic.
They focused only on confirmed cases without taking preventive measures, which when taken later, turned out loose and faulty. US politicians ridiculously believed that they could “block” the virus spread just by “burying their heads in the sand”. When they finally woke up to reality, it was too late.
Just as the American website Politico commented, mishandling by the US government exacerbated the pandemic crisis.
The US has been trying to deceive the world and blame others for its own mistakes.
As the outbreak escalated at home, some American politicians, turning a blind eye to facts, have been trying to scapegoat WHO for Washington’s poor response.
As if that was not enough, on April 14, the US announced its suspension of funding for WHO.
However, the mainstream view in the international community is that it is the US, not WHO that has destroyed the global co-operation in battling the virus.
Christopher Hill, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, published an article criticising the US government for brooding about only one thing at the moment — buck-passing.
He is right in saying so. Apart from passing the buck to China and WHO, certain US politicians also instigated some media to call the coronavirus “China virus” and “Wuhan virus”, and labelled China’s anti-virus co-operation with the world as a “diplomatic campaign” or “propaganda initiative”.
They came up with theories that China had covered up its epidemic situation and falsified data, and even made absurd allegations that the virus came from a Chinese lab and that China should pay compensation.
Such mud-flinging at China by those politicians ignored facts, and confused right and wrong while revealing their vicious intentions.
With their inherent arrogance and prejudice, they are trying to deflect the spotlight of public opinion by spreading rumours and lies, and flaming up discrimination, xenophobia and racism regardless of international justice.
Former US President Abraham Lincoln once said: “You may deceive all the people part of the time, and part of the people all the time, but not all the people all the time.”
The mean lies and fallacies spread by certain US politicians may deceive a small group of people, but not the whole world; they may deceive some people part of the time, but not all the time.
The virus is a common enemy to all humankind.
Those sinister American politicians will one day pay a high price for what they did, they will bring misery to the American people, pave the way for their decline, and ruin their political credibility.
They may have long put aside the book “The World is Flat”, authored by economist Thomas Friedman but they should at least re-read “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, by Ernest Hemingway.
To quote Hemingway: “Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main . . . Any man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind. Any therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
