The trade war between China and US plays into the hands of a pandemic
US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — Relations between the US and China are at the “worst level in history,” said James Crabtree, professor at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He noted that both countries are absorbed in shifting blame on each other against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
US President Donald Trump has accused Beijing of a lack of transparency regarding the true scale of the outbreak of COVID-19 in China. It was there that cases of the disease were first reported. Trump noted that the United States could respond faster.
In April, U.S. intelligence told the White House that China had intentionally underestimated the total number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the country. China reported 83,849 cases of coronavirus infection, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. This number is well below 787,960 cases confirmed in the United States. The largest number of patients with coronavirus in the world is recorded here.
China, in turn, struck back. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijiang suggested that the U.S. military could be causing the outbreak in Wuhan.
“When did a zero patient appear in the USA? How many people are infected? What are the hospitals called? Perhaps the US Army was the one that caused the Wuhan epidemic. Unveil your data! The USA needs an explanation for us!” He wrote on Twitter.
According to Crabtree, the conflict between the United States and China, their reluctance to cooperate interfere with the fight against the pandemic, and seek “solutions at the international level, whether in the health sector … or in the economic sphere.”
According to Crabtree, during the previous epidemics, both countries worked “quite harmoniously” with each other, exchanging important information about these outbreaks.
Meanwhile, China’s relations with Britain are also strained: British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said that Britain will not restore “familiar business relations with China after the pandemic.” He also added that the UK wants to conduct a global investigation into the causes of the outbreak.
After the trade war, which has been going on for more than a year and which so frightened financial markets, Washington and Beijing signed the long-awaited “first phase” of the trade deal in January. This happened immediately after the first cases of coronavirus were recorded in China, but even before the outbreak spread throughout the world.
Then there was talk that the two economic powers were on the verge of concluding a “second phase” of the deal. US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said more tariffs will be canceled at this point.
According to Crabtree, both countries are “playing a completely different game” when it comes to trade relations.
“Now it’s very difficult to say something. I think that we are far from the“ second phase. ”There will probably be delays in the implementation of the“ first phase ”of the agreement … It may take years … before they start from scratch.” – he noted.
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