Sino-US partnership crucial to contain virus

The novel coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc across the world, especially in European countries and the United States. The US now has the highest number of confirmed (more than 160,000) while Italy has the highest death toll (over 11,000). And as many industrialized economies face unprecedented challenges, many developing and least-developed countries are struggling to contain the virus because of their relatively weak healthcare systems.

We are sorry to see the American people suffering the same pain that we Chinese have just experienced. We were sorry to see the US administration's inaction despite China warning the world about the threat the virus posed to humans and taking the courageous decision to lock down Wuhan and Hubei in late January to control the outbreak. We are sorry that the White House declared a national emergency as late as on March 13 and didn't appropriately respond to the virus threat till recently. And we are sorry that some China hawks like Stephen K. Bannon, former White House chief strategist, in the US are still busy blaming China for the pandemic instead of shelving bilateral differences and partnering with China and the rest of the world to contain the pandemic.

As the novel coronavirus doesn't respect borders, and favors no country or ethnic group, it is high time the US joined hands with China to overcome the threat.

To begin with, the two sides should bury their differences. As China's ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai said in his interview with AXIOS on HBO on March 17, it is up to scientists to unveil the source of the virus. It is not up to diplomats and journalists to speculate. Such speculation is not helpful to anyone.

Yet, even though US President Donald Trump has stopped using racist terms to describe the novel coronavirus, top US diplomat Mike Pompeo has continued calling it the "Wuhan virus".

Instead of blaming China for generating the virus and criticizing it for being slow to respond to the outbreak, the US should strengthen its own prevention and control measures against the outbreak at home. True, China was first hit by the virus, but that cannot be an excuse for the US administration to sit idle for almost two months. As such, it is the failure of the US administration to act in time that is mainly responsible for the severity of the situation in the country today.

But it is still not too late for the US and China to coordinate their actions to contain the pandemic.

Beijing still appreciates Washington's goodwill gesture of promising to donate $100 million worth of aid when China was in the toughest period of its fight against the virus, although the US was slow to follow up on its promise. Indeed, the Chinese people are obliged to the American people and enterprises for donating a huge amount of aid to boost China's fight against the virus.

But since the US is fighting to contain the same disease, it doesn't behove US politicians to stigmatize others. The novel coronavirus is the common enemy of humans. And in this hour of American people's need, China has extended a hand to them. As China has largely controlled the virus at home, it has gathered enough experience of what types of measures are needed to contain the outbreak, which it can share with the US and other countries battling the pandemic now.

In fact, China and the US could establish a public-private cooperation mechanism through which they can work together to defeat the virus.

As President Xi Jinping has said, there is one thousand reasons to improve Sino-US relations. Now is the time to put this into practice. But for that, China needs the US' cooperation. The US could draw a lesson from its initial loose response to the outbreak at home, and strengthen its prevention and control measures, as well as improve its public health system. And China is ready to help the US in this endeavor, as it shares the common responsibility of helping the rest of the world ride out this global challenge.

The author is a professor at, and former executive dean of, the Institute of International Studies, Fudan University. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.