If you haven't already, it's time to start thinking about what international political repercussions COVID-19 may have, and what our country's response to that is going to be.
China and the U.S. continue to point fingers at each other; China has been accused of "withholding information" and "suppressing whistleblowers," fueling the fire for conspiracy theorists everywhere.
President Trump has called for an investigation and says that China did not give the U.S. important information on "patient zero," the nature of COVID-19, etc., in a timely manner, implying that China knew more than it did about the disease before it became an emergency. Consequently, President Trump is asking China for compensation; indeed, if these accusations were true, it would have contributed to the devastating consequences of the Coronavirus.
China says that President Trump's demand for compensation is nothing short of political blackmail, and adds that their country is being punished for simply reporting the Coronavirus first. China says that U.S. politicians' claims are "preposterous," and that the U.S.'s demand for compensation does not hold up legally. In turn, China accuses the U.S. of keeping its own COVID-19 numbers a secret--even placing blame on the U.S. military--and that the U.S. should have been "more aware of what was going on in the world."
If we're honest with ourselves, we should have expected there to be some damaged political relationships left in the wake of COVID-19. But what does this mean for the U.S.?
Relations between the U.S. and China continue to sour; what effect will this have on trade, monetary dealings, and possible future war-and-peacetime relations? After all, one of the U.S.'s biggest trade agreements is with China, with upwards of $660 billion exchanged in goods between our two countries each year. Can either country afford a lost friendship with the other? Things will undoubtedly never be the same between the U.S. and China. How that will directly affect the U.S. as a whole remains to be seen.
If you'd like to see NBC's full exclusive interview with China's Executive Vice Foreign Minister on this topic, follow this link:
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