Opinion | Amid US-China stand-off, American and Chinese citizens show the way with their Covid-19 cooperation
- From donations of medical supplies to scientific collaboration, scientists, executives and ordinary people in both countries have shown a willingness to cooperate – and a recognition that the crisis needs to be tackled jointly by their governments
The Covid-19 pandemic has put families, businesses and communities to the test. Now, more than ever, we rely on one another to overcome the greatest public health and economic challenge of our lifetimes. But, amid a crisis that requires our maximum effort, the world’s two largest economies are at loggerheads.
Yet Americans resoundingly want to work with China to respond to the coronavirus. Morning Consult/Politico polls last month showed a 28-percentage-point margin in favour of working with China to combat the pandemic, despite political frictions. And while governmental cooperation has seized up, citizens in both countries are working together to address the crisis.
These crucial first steps allowed scientists around the world to begin studying the virus. Universities and labs moved quickly to set up research partnerships – Harvard Medical School and the Guangzhou Institute for Respiratory Diseases; Columbia University and Sun Yat-sen University, among others.