The global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic keeps gaining momentum. The disease epicenter has moved to the United States, which firmly holds its woeful lead both in the number of infections approaching half a million and in the death toll to exceed 20 thousand people in the coming days.
Amid President Trump's cheery tweets claiming the US has reached the peak of the curve, forecasts by White House representatives about the expected 100 thousand deaths this month sound not really optimistic. On April 5, US Surgeon General Vice Admiral Jerome Adams said the next two weeks would be “the hardest and saddest of most American's lives" and compared the upcoming events to the Pearl Harbor tragedy and 9/11 attacks.
Economic slack and 17-million-people unemployment caused by the pandemic increase discontent among the US society. Only 40% of Americans recognize the authorities' measures of combating the coronavirus infection as satisfactory. In light of this, realizing that the COVID-19 factor may appear decisive in the election campaign, the current President and his administration use the old trusty practice of finger-pointing against an external enemy in their quest for those responsible.
Within the given scenario, the choice of the source of all the troubles and misfortunes was clear. According to Trump, this source was the Chinese government. To be more ideologically persuasive, the American President hereto mentioned the Communist party of China as well.
In its accusations, the American side refers to data provided by the special services, according to which the Chinese authorities hid the real epidemic outbreak time, cracked down on doctors who sounded the alarm, distorted the number of those infected and dead, and misled the WHO. Trump, who deliberately calls COVID a "Chinese virus" stated that such moves by the Chinese authorities prevented his administration from taking timely appropriate measures, and valuable time was wasted. At the same time, the WHO also caught it bad from the American leader who accused it of taking cues from Beijing. The irritated President promised to bleed it dry, depriving of American membership fees.
The Americans could not have helped raising the question of a monetary compensation (trillions of dollars, mind you) for the economic and human losses they suffered "through China's fault". There are at least two known class-action lawsuits against the Chinese government. The case involves practicing lawyers with a relevant expertise. The claims will undoubtedly get the highest possible political support of the authorities if heard by "independent" American and international courts. Mindful of the experience of null and void cases against Russia, legal prospects of coronavirus lawsuits against China don't really look utopian with all that it entails as represented by the seizure of Chinese foreign assets.
China, in turn, came up with a narrative that COVID-19 could have been brought to Wuhan by the American military personnel. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, this could have happened during the 7th Military World Games held in Wuhan in late October last year that involved the 280-strong US team. The Chinese diplomat corroborates his version with a reference to a statement by Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield, who stated that several Americans who died from flu were found to have coronavirus during their post-mortem examination.
Zhao Lijian demanded that the United States release information about the "zero patient" infected with the coronavirus, the number of infections and deaths, as well as specify the names of hospitals where treatment took place. The diplomat's message was picked up by Chinese journalists, who started hyping up the issue of America's military-biological laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Engaged in studying deadly viruses, the laboratory was temporarily closed in early August 2019 over some obscure "safety issues". Meticulous journalists got wind of the fact that at least one athlete who was part of the US team at the games in Wuhan (cyclist Maatje Benassi) served in the notorious laboratory.
Zhao Lijian's statement and the subsequent anti-American campaign in the Chinese press triggered an abrupt response with Washington. The Chinese Ambassador was summoned to the State Department for an explanation. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a strong statement accusing China, as well as Russia and Iran (can they ever do without us?), of spreading disinformation that discredits the United States.
The State Department's moves were not left unanswered. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Washington was engaged in groundless defamation and assaults upon China. Beijing believes that in assessing the current situation America is shifting the blame without elaborating why the state of emergency was only declared on March 13, even though the first coronavirus case was registered back on January 20.
The US-Chinese give-and-take will certainly remain open, with its intensity to depend on the course of America's election campaign. Trump's popularity is so far stable. At the same time, his future fate will hinge on how the US will get out of the first COVID-19 pandemic wave, whether there will be a second one, the probability of which is predicted by many experts including American ones, as well as on how much the American economy will suffer – the current President's strongest killer feature.
Trump's competitors in the race for the White House will make the most of the coronavirus factor. The 2005 speech of President Bush Jr., in which he told how a national leader should act in hard times of a viral epidemic, is not going to be forgotten in a hurry. In this case, Trump's disappointment with "the wrong behavior of his friend President Xi" will grow stronger to inevitably entail further aggravation of US-Chinese relations.
