US, China reach truce as coronavirus infections continue to increase

Days after blaming one another for the coronavirus pandemic, the United States of America and China have reportedly reached a truce. The COVID-19 pandemic originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and since spiralled out to infect 14,31,973 people worldwide with a majority of cases in the US.

US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly dubbed COVID-19 as ‘Chinese virus’, has now reportedly dropped the provocative term.  Also, since a telephone call on March 26 with his Chinese counterpart XI Jinping,  the American leader has refrained from calling out Beijing’s response to the pandemic. Meanwhile, US Secretary of States Mike Pompeo, who insisted on calling it the ‘Wuhan Virus’, was seen talking about ‘global cooperation’ in his latest address. While speaking about China in a press conference on April 7, Pompeo asserted that it was the time for ‘every country to work together.’

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Previously, China infuriated the Americans after a foreign ministry spokesman spread a conspiracy theory stating that US troops brought the virus on the Chinese land. Critics reportedly opined that Trump’s blame game was a political ploy to hide his failure at controlling the spread of infection in the US. As of April 8, the US has reported 4,00,540 cases of infection and over 12, 857 deaths. 

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Shortage of medical equipment

However, amid the shortage of ventilators and other medical equipment, the United States apparently needs China more than ever. Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations speaking to international media said that Washington certainly does not want to alienate Beijing to the point that it bans the sale of medical equipment to the United States. She further said that it also reflects a broader sentiment within much of the United States that this is not the time to play an international blame game -- the priority should be on saving American and other lives. 

On the other hand, China which produces more than half of the mask in the US has limited benefits from this mutual agreement in the vitriolic feud. Douglas Paal, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace speaking on the topic reportedly asserted that for China, the goal is to "keep Trump calm and to try to prevent unnecessary damage from taking place and keeping that channel open between you and Trump". Also, China’s top priority right now is to revive the global demand for its exports.

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Image Credits: AP