'When they go low, we go high," Michelle Obama, the former U. S. first lady, famously said while expressing her support to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential bid against current President Donald Trump. While the world is currently under the threat of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and nearly all nations have rallied to help contain the virus, we are witnessing a historical low of the U.S. leadership.

Ill-advised moves

Going low helps in passing the buck to other countries and blaming them for one's own incompetence. Facing a daunting economy with approval ratings at a record low, Trump's reelection strategy has suddenly switched to finding a scapegoat to blame.

Instead of using the term COVID-19, the president himself repeatedly referred to the virus as "Chinese virus," and his Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, went a step further to suggest including the term "Wuhan virus" in a Group of Seven joint statement in March, which was met with resistance and refusal from other six parties.

Tom Cotton, a Republican Senator, has been publicly advocating a conspiracy theory that the coronavirus came from a government laboratory in Wuhan. Despite the consensus view of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the global scientific community that the virus is not manipulated or produced in a laboratory, Cotton magically stated that "common sense has been my guide" in floating the theory.

All these prejudices have been strongly refuted by China, and even more by U.S. mainstream media. Nonetheless, you can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep. Facing the corrupt political intent and survival strategy of a few U.S. politicians, the Chinese Government has maintained decency and restraint.

From the very beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese Government stated that it was the job of the scientists, not politicians, to determine the origin of the virus. The Chinese Government cooperated with the WHO to invite a joint medical team, including U.S. experts, to Wuhan and elsewhere in China for investigation in February. Later on, the joint team produced a 40-page report that has been helpful for the international community's initial understanding of COVID-19.

When the outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S. started to get out of control in late March, the Trump administration launched a smear campaign to blame China for spreading the virus to the U.S., totally ignoring the fact that the U.S. was among the very first countries to issue a China travel ban dating back to early February and evacuate U.S. citizens from Wuhan in late January. The U.S. Government provided no substantial support to China when it was most needed.

It is easy to alienate and ignore the rest of the world, which is what Trump has done with his America First policy, but it is extremely difficult to recuperate once creditability is lost. The Trump administration's recent decision to halt U.S funding to the WHO has created divisions both inside and outside the country. Being the most authoritative UN agency on global health, the WHO is the pillar in the battle against COVID-19 for the international community. It cannot afford to be underfunded at a time when the world needs it the most. To make matters worse, Pompeo later said that U.S. funding to the WHO could be terminated forever.

Confusing messages

The Trump administration's accusation against the WHO of "favoring" the Chinese Government amid the pandemic is absurd. For many years, the U.S. has been the largest contributor to the WHO's budget, accounting for 15 percent; China, before the outbreak of COVID-19, only accounted for 1 percent of the WHO's budget. Domestically, the Trump administration wants Americans to believe both China and the WHO worked hand in hand to cover up the spread of COVID-19. Internationally, they want it to be another excuse to shirk their international commitments.

In the past few years, the U.S. has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, the UN Human Rights Council, and now potentially from the WHO. The Trump administration is not just trying to decouple from China, but can also decouple from the rest of the world as long as it serves the goal of the America First policy.

As the Trump administration tries to be divisive, the world is standing up against it. After the U.S. announcement of suspension of funding to the WHO, the Chinese Government pledged an additional $30 million to the organization. Finland pledged another 5 million euros ($5.4 million). Germany also pledged to make a substantial contribution to the WHO.

U.S. philanthropists and celebrities rallied to help. Bill Gates criticized Trump in a tweet, saying "halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds." Organized by U.S. celebrities like Lady Gaga, the One World: Together at Home concert raised more than $55 million for the WHO's COVID-19 fund. Together, they showed the U.S. Government a real common purpose and solidarity the world needs at this moment.

Last but not least, governing by fear, not hope, indicates another new low for the Trump administration. Different from Chinese President Xi Jinping's strong message to the world that "through solidarity and mutual assistance, we will prevail over this outbreak and we all will embrace a brighter future for mankind," and French President Emmanuel Macron's message urging people to keep calm, President Trump sends confusing messages.

In one of the latest episodes, he even suggested injecting disinfectants could be useful to treat coronavirus, which prompted scientists and bleach producers to hurriedly refute the claim by saying, "Do not drink bleach." People look at leaders for guidance, help and hope, not disinformation, rumor or fear. No people in modern society deserve this kind of leadership.

In early February, when the epidemic was at its height in China and brought a lot of uncertainties, Xi stated openly that "the outbreak is a major test of China's system and capacity for governance." In less than two months, the situation in China is relatively under control, which enabled China to offer a helping hand to other countries in their fight against the pandemic.

Both the Chinese Government and people understand that fear, alienation and blame do not do any good for winning the battle over the virus. Only courage, solidarity and cooperation will bring victory. For the same reason, it is time for the U.S. leadership to rise above the lows and join China and many other countries to make efforts to win the battle against the pandemic.

The author is a research fellow at the Collaborative Innovation Center of South China Sea Studies at Nanjing University

(Print Edition Title: Leadership at Low Ebb)

Copyedited by Madhusudan Chaubey

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