They were turbulent even before the pandemic, but what is happening highlights issues that could soon deteriorate in a truly worrying way.
If the relationship between the USA and China were a patient, they would already have many pre-existing diseases that the coronavirus would be about to aggravate. Amy Gadsden, associate vice president for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and executive director of Penn Initiatives in China said this week at a virtual event.
Coronavirus could infect relationships between the two most powerful nations on Earth.
Gasden and colleagues agree that both superpowers botched their initial response to the virus and are now trying to point fingers at each other.
What we are seeing is each side trying to claim that this pandemic reveals the other's weaknesses, the errors in their system, in their way of governing and managing society. And conversely, he emphasizes how his reaction to the coronavirus reflects the strengths of his political system.
Relations (and rivalries) between the USA and China
In both China and the United States, the government has been slow to respond to the crisis. And essentially for the same reason: the fear that being honest about the scale of the pandemic would undermine public trust in leadership.
This seems obvious to authoritarian China, but essentially the same concerns have also guided decision-making in the West in responding to the epidemic.
The rivalry between the United States and China had been growing since the Obama administration, and the trend towards decoupling was already underway before the pandemic, but the situation is exacerbating very, very quickly.
In the USA the theme is the appeal to reduce American dependence on China for drugs, masks, respirators and protective equipment. And in this it was the same globalization to put his hand there.
Jacques de Lisle, professor of political science and director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China, calls the pandemic “the almost perfect storm” to move the United States towards a hard line.
Trump's reaction
A continuous hammer on every alleged Chinese mistake. Canceled trips, continued definition of the virus as the “Wuhan Virus”, suspension of funding to the WHO and suspicions about the creation of the coronavirus in the laboratory.
And in China?
It remains to be seen whether the viral epidemic has weakened or strengthened it. There are conflicting arguments to support both assessments. The (temporary? Permanent?) “stall” of US global leadership has created a void that China could (would?) fill.
US-China relations: what if it accelerates collaboration?
The idea that any science and technology collaboration between the two nations is perceived as a threat to national security is one of the biggest current challenges for US-China relations.
The pandemic experience highlights the importance of scientific collaboration and should encourage both countries to understand that fragmenting the global scientific community is unwise.
The tensions go in the opposite direction to what the world needs. USA and China must manage this rivalry, and collaborate. Not only for the vaccine but above all to prevent future pandemics.
And what is climate change if not a coronavirus in slow motion?
