MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2020) When facing epidemics similar to the one triggered by the coronavirus disease, COVID-19, humans have historically tended to blame each other instead of standing united against the common health threats, political analysts have told Sputnik.
At the first-ever virtual World Health Assembly this week, Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, once again called on leaders from different nations to work together in solidarity and unity to combat the new deadly virus that had at the time resulted in nearly 5 million people infected and killed more than 300,000 globally.
The UN official's comments came amid growing tensions between China and the United States, as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused Beijing of failing to prevent COVID-19 from spreading globally. In response, China's Foreign Ministry refuted Trump's accusations as groundless and even began to endorse theories that the new virus could have originated from the United States.
NO WINNER IN BATTLE WITH INVISIBLE ENEMY
The bitter war of words between Beijing and Washington stood in sharp contrast with the unity the world exhibited during the Second World War, when the United States and the Soviet Union put aside their differences in defeating Nazi Germany together.
As the world celebrates the 75th anniversary of the victory of the Allied Forces in the Second World War this year, political analysts pointed out that people rarely demonstrated such unity when facing previous epidemics.
"Whenever an epidemic caused by a new unknown virus emerged, it always triggered more division among humans than unity. That's because nobody knows what to do when facing a new epidemic like this. That's why it's impossible for everyone to form a united policy or response," Ding Xueliang, director of the Institute for China's Overseas Interests, Shenzhen University, told Sputnik.
The expert argued that new epidemics have usually caused humans to blame each other.
"On the contrary, the new virus usually led to more complaints and pointing fingers at each other among humans. It's not just accusations between nations. Even within the same country, different provinces, counties, or villages would begin to blame each other. It's human nature as we simply don't know how to handle the new threats. This is very different from how we handle other threats such as a common enemy in a war," he said.
Other political analysts explained that fighting an invisible virus was more difficult than fighting a visible, common enemy in a war.
"The entire human race indeed is facing a common enemy which is the new coronavirus. But the virus is invisible. That's why there's no winner in a battle against such invisible enemies. The best you can do is contain your losses by lowering the death rates. That's very different from the glory of winning a war," Xu Guoqi, a history professor specializing in US-China relations at Hong Kong University, told Sputnik.
Xu gave an example of how people commemorated the victory of the First World War differently from those who had survived an epidemic during the same period.
"A similar deadly epidemic, the Spanish Flu, emerged during the First World War. While monuments celebrating the victory of the war can be found in many places, you rarely can find memorials for the victims who died of the Spanish Flu," he said.
Xu added that almost everyone has generally felt a sense of defeat after an epidemic, making it natural for people to begin to try to blame others.
As the United States became one of the worst-affected countries in the world by COVID-19, Trump began to face mounting domestic political pressure over his handling of the deadly outbreak.
In addition to trying to divert the blame against him toward Beijing, Trump's accusations against China could have resulted from his anger over the epidemic having potentially seriously damaged his chances for winning the 2020 US presidential election, Ding from Shenzhen University suggested.
"Before the COVID-19 pandemic started, there was almost no suspense in the upcoming US presidential election. Both the economic conditions and employment situation in the United States were pointing towards Trump winning the reelection. But the epidemic disrupted everything and could seriously hurt Trump's chances," he said.
It is unlikely that Trump will change his aggressive stance against Beijing before the US presidential election in November, Ding added.
In addition to growing tensions with the United States, China began to face more questions over its initial efforts in containing COVID-19 from other Western nations, including countries in the European Union and Australia.
Xu from Hong Kong University suggested that the accusations China faced globally were very similar to the attitude towards people from Wuhan, the first COVID-19 epicenter, in other parts of the country.
"Everyone is a victim in the ongoing pandemic, which brings a psychological problem. For politicians in different countries, they have to find a scapegoat. China has become an easy target. It's very similar to how people in China felt about those who came from Wuhan. People from Wuhan have been facing discrimination in other parts of the country," he said.
Xu argued that China's confrontational response against such accusations had also resulted from its domestic politics.
"The legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party's rule is based on its ability to provide economic growth and social stability for ordinary people in the country. The epidemic has hindered the country's economy significantly and could lead to other social problems. That's why nationalism has become the only thing Beijing can rely on. That's why there's very little room for China to appear weak when facing such accusations," he said.
As no effective treatment or working vaccine has been developed against COVID-19, the impact from the global pandemic will continue to strain the relations between different countries as all nations began to prioritize domestic political needs, Xu warned.
