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Letters | Coronavirus: Italy and Serbia are counting on China, because Western solidarity is a ‘fairy tale’
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Countries often look to the great powers for leadership and support in global crises. The novel coronavirus causing the Covid-19 disease is a worldwide crisis that poses a formidable challenge to global public health security.
The coronavirus-related death toll has surpassed 23,000, with more than 522,000 confirmed cases worldwide. However, sharp differences between Beijing and Washington in their approaches to the epidemic have raised fundamental questions about global leadership in the face of pandemic uncertainty.
While Washington is now coming under fire for falling short, Beijing has shown solidarity and joined hands with heavily impacted countries in the battle against Covid-19.
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In the fight against the pandemic, the traditional ally of European states – the US – sought to pull away from solidarity and cooperation.
The solidarity and unity of the United States and European Union has crumbled. Maurizio Massari, Italian ambassador to the EU, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic have lashed out at European countries for their lack of solidarity. Vucic even described European solidarity as a “fairy tale on paper”.
There is no doubt that the epidemic will be a litmus test of the West’s – and the EU’s –mutual defence, cohesiveness and credibility. The Trump administration also has raised questions about the US’ historic leadership role. Many countries around the globe fear that the US can no longer be relied upon to lead on major global challenges, as Kelly Magsamen, vice-president for national security and international policy at the left-leaning Centre for American Progress, has said.
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