The Relations of COVID

The United States, although proud of its independence, still vastly relies on other countries for survival. Our country prides itself on being the stage for intercultural diversity and building relationships across the globe. One of the most critical yet complex relationships the United States has is with China. The relationship was not formally stabilized until U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the U.S.-China Relations Act of 2000 in October, creating a deeper trade relation with China and setting the stage for China’s 2001 entry into the WTO. The nominally Communist country grew to be one of the largest global economies in 2010, largely its strength in trade. Obama’s Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, publicized in an essay the need for an “increased investment – diplomatic, economic, strategic” to account for China’s growing global influence. Despite efforts to maintain a strategy and balanced engagement with China, the foundation of the relationship slowly began to crack.

With the unanticipated election of Donald J. Trump, global relationships faced a challenge: working with an unprecedented global leader. With the drastic shift in the political environment and growth of partisanship, the U.S’s international relationships quickly eroded. After years of dedication to establish a bridge between the two powerhouse countries, progress quickly began to unravel. Although the two leaders differ in views, both Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were able to do the bare minimum to nurture what was stable in the broad bilateral relationship. Up from  15 years, U.S goods and services trade with China grossed a total of $737.1 billion. However, this growth was not permanent. As President Trump became more comfortable in the White House, his administration boldly verbalized that the U.S- China relationship was one-sided, not in the U.S’s favor.  Already balancing on thin ice, the alliance between the two superpowers came to crumble with the outbreak of COVID-19.

In 2019, China experienced an economic growth rate of 6.4%, which quickly reversed within the first three months of 2020. With the spread of the pandemic, not only were economic relations seriously damaged, but racial and other tensions towards China heightened. As the virus became a global pandemic, leading officials in both China and the U.S pointed fingers at each other for the spread of the virus. Although having no evidence to back their false claim, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson boldly blamed the U.S military for bringing the virus to China. Meanwhile, President Trump weaponized the term  “Chinese Virus”, thus igniting domestic racial attacks towards the Asian community. Despite being constantly corrected by journalists and his administration, he deliberately uses the phrase to push blame on the Chinese. A photographer was even able to capture Trump’s written speech, where he had crossed out the word “Corona” and replaced it with “Chinese.”

Repeatedly, Trump has purposely ignored the consequences of his actions, especially in regards to minorities. By continually pushing his racial comments about the Asian American Community, negative associations are making Americans see China as an enemy rather than a partner. The Pew Research Center found that the more Trump normalizes hatred towards China, the more Americans want to cut off relations with the country. In retaliation to Trump’s incendiary remarks, President Xi Jinping expelled 13 journalists from three major U.S. newspapers whose press credentials were set to expire. Since the contagious growth of COVID, the two countries have been at a broad-based war with one another.

Rather than focusing on the growing global health crisis, the two egocentric leaders are playing political tennis, seeing who can cause the most damage to the other. Each country has faced massive economic, civilian, and political loss during the COVID crisis, yet both fail to acknowledge so. President Xi and Trump are seen, by global political standards, to be rulers of two powerhouse countries, yet fail to act as leaders when their constituents need them most. Both Presidents have been acting like two selfish, hot-headed toddlers fighting over toys at the playground than acknowledging their wrongs for the better of the country. As COVID sculpts the future of not only the U.S and the world, our leaders need to stand outside the sandbox and share their toys.