Political manipulation not a straw to grasp at for U.S. politicians

Facing COVID-19, the common enemy of mankind, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has always ignored facts and fabricated stories, in an attempt to slander China by the pandemic. What he did was totally immoral.

In fact, behind his lies are over 2.56 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 125,000 deaths in the U.S., as well as the disappointment and harsh criticism of the U.S. public displeased with the White House’s incapability to respond to the pandemic.

This further exposed the cruelty and hypocrisy of Pompeo who tried to divert attention, pass the buck, find a scapegoat, and politicize the pandemic. The fundamental reason for his practices is that he always puts private political gains above the lives and health of the American people.

To combat the disease calls for sincerity and concrete actions. The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government have always put people and their lives in the first place, and spared no effort to save lives. China has always informed the international society about the development of the epidemic in an open, transparent and responsible manner. It’s universally recognized that China has broadcasted its pandemic response to the world without reservation. Till today, Wuhans streets and squares are broadcasted live on a livestreaming channel of Xuexi Qiangguo, an educational application developed by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Besides, China also issued a white paper titled “Fighting Covid-19: China in Action” that faithfully records the five stages and 126 important moments in a timeline of China’s fight against the epidemic. The truth is that China has always acted with a keen sense of responsibility, employed extraordinary measures to deal with an extraordinary emergency, and made every effort to safeguard people’s lives and health. The truth is that China did everything possible to treat each and every patient, from an infant only 30 hours old to a centenarian. The truth is that China has delivered an anti-epidemic performance that is able to withstand the test of time and history.

Passing the buck will not help the U.S. relieve its pandemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that over 20 million Americans could have possibly contracted the novel coronavirus, and according to U.S. media, over one third of the COVID-19 deaths in 31 states came from nursing homes. Facing the severe pandemic, some U.S. politicians who had always preached democracy and human rights, are on the contrary “making” enemies and have no interest in curbing the spread of the virus or protecting the lives of Americans.

The lies fabricated by Pompeo, which are unscientific, contradict common sense and go against justice, have been repeatedly nailed. He slandered that China spread the virus to the world, but statistics from multiple countries, including Canada, France, Russia, Australia, Singapore and Japan indicated that most of the cases in relevant countries were not from China.

A recent article titled “Why Is the United States Exporting Coronavirus?” published on New York Times noted that the United States, with the largest number of coronavirus cases in the world, is now consciously spreading the pandemic beyond its borders by continuing to deport thousands of immigrants, many infected with the coronavirus. According to the article, the government of Guatemala reported in late April that nearly a fifth of the country’s coronavirus cases were linked to deportees from the United States.

The tracing of viruses is a scientific issue that calls for researches by scientists and medical experts, and the conclusion shall be drawn in a science-based manner with facts and evidence. The University of Barcelona recently detected the presence of the novel coronavirus in waste water samples collected in March last year, and many European studies also found similar situation. Global scientists are still working hard to trace the source of the virus.

Seeing the collapse of the fabricated story that the virus came from China’s Wuhan, Pompeo is still unwilling to stop his farce, continuing to chattering about his lies. What he has done is both ridiculous and pathetic.

The “crimes” placed on China by Pompeo exactly revealed the value orientation of some U.S. politicians on the pandemic as they sought for private gains, acted with low efficiency and showed no responsibility.

The Economist pointed out that Pompeo has a long history of talking nonsense, adding that his China-baiting is an obvious effort to distract from White House's struggles with the pandemic. The Washington Post said that Pompeo’s blatantly public politicization of foreign policy and the pandemic renders him the least impressive and effective secretary of state in memory. “Pompeo is behaving like yet another run-of-the-mill political hack in Trump’s employ — tone-deaf to ethical impropriety, fixated on Trump’s political interests and lacking credibility in his official capacity.”

Political manipulation is not a straw to grasp at. As a country with the world’s most developed and maturest medical technologies, the U.S. is still not capable of controlling the pandemic, which is saddening and confusing, and worth introspection of American politicians.

Lives are the most precious. American politicians had better stop the buck-passing trick, abandon the philosophy of “political interests first”, and put pandemic response and saving lives in the first place.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)