There's not enough cooperation between China and the United States when it comes to stopping the coronavirus pandemic, wrote two Brookings Institution experts in China-US Focus, a website by the China-United States Exchange Foundation.
Authors Cheng Li and Ryan McElveen write:
"If the history of the COVID-19 pandemic were written today, the narrative would not be dominated by the global common cause that has characterized past pandemics, but rather by handwringing and finger pointing. Nothing encapsulates this storyline more than the absence of governmental cooperation between China, which was first struck by the virus outbreak, and the United States, which has suffered the most infections and greatest death toll."
Both experts said there have been too many blame games, conspiracy theories and public opinion wars, which reduced the trust and collaboration between China and the U.S.
They offer ten areas where the world's two largest economies can work together to bring the pandemic under control, summarized here:
1. Resume the tradition of public health cooperation
The authors cite a history of health cooperation between the two countries including on HIV/AIDS, H5N1, and Ebola. In comparison, cooperation on COVID-19 has been far lacking.
2. Retain strong ties within the medical community
Despite the lack of government-to-government cooperation, the authors highlight the strong work of medical experts from China and the U.S. who have united to shed light on the pandemic. "Experts in the U.S. and China have cooperated on coronavirus research more with each other than with any other country—including on over 100 articles in leading journals—leading to more collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic than over the previous five years combined," the authors write.
3. Improve transparency and data sharing
Transparency and data sharing are critical in finding ways to stop the pandemic and both countries should commit to greater information sharing.
4. Establish a global surveillance network for variants
The two countries should establish a global surveillance network of all the COVID-19 variants that are appearing to aid in tracing, screening, and warning of new mutations.
5. Develop mutually beneficial competition on vaccine development
As China and the U.S. work to develop COVID-19 vaccines, it's critical that they work together to create safe and effective vaccines for everyone in the world.
"As the host countries of multiple effective vaccine platforms, the U.S. and China should engage in positive-sum competition rather than in a zero-sum game," the authors write.
6. Increase vaccine manufacturing capacity for the world
China and the U.S. are leading vaccine manufacturing nations and should cooperate to ensure that there's enough capacity, especially as only 3.5 percent of the Chinese population and 11.2 percent of the U.S. population have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine. Many worry that lack of manufacturing capacity could create a bottleneck in getting to herd immunity, the authors write.
7. Enhance equitable international distribution of vaccines
The world's two leading economies should aid in the equitable global vaccine distribution especially through the World Health Organization's COVAX program and Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. In addition to financial support, the U.S. can utilize its extensive network of global health programs, and China can help by using its strong capacity in the manufacturing and delivery of vaccines to developing nations.
8. Collaborate on drug development
The authors call on both governments to encourage medical and scientific sharing on best practices in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19.
9. Coordinate on cross-border travel and new international protocols
China and the U.S. should develop vaccine-certificate protocols and safety mechanisms to allow for cross-border travel. Vaccines, therapies, and supplies need to be able to cross national borders quickly and not face restrictions and holdups, Cheng and McElveen write.
10. Build confidence and capacity for the future
Improved cooperation between the U.S. and China can help inspire people around the world on the importance of meeting shared humanitarian goals and can help "set the stage for addressing other issues of global public good, including climate change and nuclear nonproliferation," the authors write.
Cheng and McElveen conclude:
"Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping now have an opportunity to improve the reputations of their governments both domestically and abroad by effectively addressing the next phase of the pandemic. But to do so effectively, both leaders must be willing to focus on the future instead of dwelling in the past, directing clenched fists at COVID-19 instead of at each other."
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