By Hujjatullah Zia
As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the world, China became the target of harsh rhetoric and disinformation campaign even though it has made remarkable achievements in containing the virus－even lifting the lockdown on Wuhan, capital of Hubei province and the epicenter of the outbreak in China after 76 days－at a time when the rest of the world is still grappling with it.
Associating the pandemic with China or the Chinese people will prove counter productive, because hate crimes, including attacks on people of Asian origin－as reported from several cities in the West－will do no society or economy any good.
Many believed the pandemic would bring all countries on a global platform to cooperate in the fight against this common human enemy. Instead, irresponsible remarks have fueled tensions.
As a non-traditional security threat, the pandemic is no different from terrorism: it doesn't discriminate on the basis of country, color, creed or class. As Mike Ryan, head of the World Health Organization's health emergency programs, said: "Viruses know no borders, and they don't care about your ethnicity, the color of your skin, or how much money you have in the bank". The WHO has even advised against scapegoating a country or people, while praising Beijing for its transparency in the fight against the virus.
Since we live in a "global village" and share a common destiny, the outbreak has put the life of all at stake and the imminent economic crisis will wreak havoc on people across the world. As such, we should all make greater efforts to build a community with a shared future for humankind.
During my stay in China for almost one year, I heard officials reiterating on different occasions the importance of cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and peaceful coexistence to promote global social harmony.
With this policy in mind, China has expanded cooperation with many countries in the fight against the virus. For instance, China was the first country to send medical experts and supplies to Serbia, which sought China's help. Many other countries, including Afghanistan, have also received medical help from China.
This is a time for global cooperation, not blame games or stigmatizing others. It is also a time to bridge the gaps and build trust. It is not the time for finger pointing or doubting the role and neutrality of international organizations such as the WHO whose funding the US administration has threatened to freeze. So all countries should seize this opportunity to cement their ties by helping each other and resolving differences through dialogue.
In particular, the US and China need to cooperate in the fight against the virus to prevent the pandemic from causing more damage to the global economy.
The US administration initially downplayed the virus threat. Even weeks after Singapore and the Republic of Korea implemented emergency measures, the US remained in denial. As a result, more than 553,000 people had been infected and nearly 22,000 killed in the US by Tuesday. Perhaps the US administration misconstrued its own "America first" policy as "America alone" policy.
Despite people continuing to fall victim to the pandemic in the US, Italy, Spain, Iran and elsewhere, some countries are still engaged in finger pointing and trading insults. Washington is not even considering easing sanctions against Teheran so the latter can better fight the outbreak.
But since blame games and hostility will not save human lives, all countries should join hands in order to prevent more human fatalities. And even after the pandemic is contained globally, they need to continue cooperating to deal with the inevitable economic fallout of the epidemic.
As such, the global focus should be on how to effectively contain the outbreak. China has sent out a clear message that all countries should come together and share their experiences in the fight against the pandemic, while developing a vaccine and devising a detailed plan for treating COVID-19 patients.
The author is a writer with Daily Outlook, an independent newspaper in Afghanistan.
