By Ren Ping, People’s Daily
Openness and transparency are what China has underlined in its COVID-19 response, as well as
objective evaluation of the international society on China’s anti-pandemic experience.
However, some U.S. politicians are always lying through their teeth, saying China underreported
the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths and covered up relevant information while
knowing the severity of the disease. This time, they cooked up a new story, slandering that China
was stealing the COVID-19 vaccine research from the U.S.
It's unusual and unbelievable that dignitaries of a country are lying without remorse and taking
double dealing as a routine.
Facts are the best rumor dispeller. Wuhan, the former epicenter of COVID-19 in central China’s
Hubei province, recently tested 9.9 million people in just 19 days, and only found 300
asymptomatic cases. Besides, no infection has been caused by asymptomatic patients so far.
The test results were in line with the previous data released, which further indicated the reliability
of China’s statistics. “If China is forging statistics, they must have a time machine,” remarked
Nobel prizewinner Michael Levitt, refuting the U.S. false accusation. Facts revealed not only the
absurdity of the U.S. slandering, but also the true intention of the U.S. politicians.
Facts proved that to understand and control an unknown virus takes a process. When the virus
firstly broke out, there was almost no scientific evidence suggesting that the novel virus might
lead to a dangerous pandemic. Even so, China still reacted in an amazing speed. It reported the
viral pneumonia of unknown cause to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. on Jan.
3, and unprecedented measures were taken by the country 20 days later to sound a stunning alarm
for the world.
Even some U.S. politicians lauded China’s epidemic response at first. However, they had a
turnabout due to their incapability to control the epidemic, trying to duck responsibilities and pass
the buck to China. How could such self-contradictory practice watertight?
A Chinese internet user once asked what kind of transparency the U.S. politicians were
demanding. If such transparency was based on assumption and used to frame others, then they
would never be satisfied with China’s transparency.
It is recognized that these U.S. politicians, draining their brains to shift the blames to China, are
absolutely not seeking for “truth” or “transparency”. What they are trying to do is just finding a
scapegoat for their incapability and hyping international confrontation to win elections.
The New York Times pointed out that some U.S. politicians increasingly believe that elevating
China as an archenemy culpable for the spread of the virus, and harnessing America’s growing
animosity toward Beijing, may be the best way to salvage a difficult election. The Washington
Post was blunter, saying the White House is guilty of exactly what it accuses China of doing.
The COVID-19 pandemic is something that certain U.S. politicians seek private gains from, but
for plain American citizens, it is an unbearable trauma. According to a research by the Columbia
University, if the United States had begun imposing social distancing measures one week earlier
than it did in March, about 36,000 fewer people would have died in the coronavirus outbreak, and
if the country had begun locking down cities and limiting social contact two weeks earlier than
most people started staying home, the vast majority of the nation’s deaths — about 83 percent —
would have been avoided.
Till today, these U.S. politicians are still weighing people's lives and political interests, and even
diverting attention and shifting responsibility by defunding the WHO and interfering in other
countries’ domestic affairs.
Lies will always be lies no matter how they are disguised. “The world has loved, hated and envied
the US. Now, for the first time, we pity it,” said the Irish Times in a commentary. From this we see
the world’s compassion for U.S. citizens, and also the contempt for the practices of certain U.S.
politicians.
