Between the trade war and coronavirus, US-China relations are becoming more toxic

Covid-19 is obviously one such enemy, given the pain and suffering it has so far inflicted on people across the globe. World powers like the United States and China have a clear opportunity to unite and fight the coronavirus pandemic – while also overcoming the escalating rivalry between them.

There are many precedents from recent memory. For instance, following the deadly Sichuan earthquake in 2008, then US president George W. Bush immediately offered to help China, including sharing detailed images of the devastated region taken by spy satellites and dispatching the military to airlift critically needed relief supplies to the disaster zone.

When severe acute respiratory syndrome broke out in 2002 and 2003, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention already had a substantial presence in China. American public health experts had built relationships with their Chinese counterparts and had instituted procedures that could be called upon.

However, such empathy and cooperation have been elusive during the Covid-19 outbreak. Instead, the coronavirus has become a new point of friction between the US and China, despite indications of improved relations after the signing of a phase-one trade agreement in January.

Since the outbreak, the two countries have been playing the blame game. Early in the crisis, Washington criticised Beijing’s reluctance to accept its offer to send health experts to China, though some experts were eventually allowed to join the World Health Organisation delegation.