U.S. practice to claim compensation for COVID-19 outbreak a shame for human civilization
By Zhong Sheng
Some U.S. politicians are making
the COVID-19 pandemic a political show, from repeatedly politicizing the
disease and stigmatizing other countries, to the lousy cliché of claiming
compensation.
The political farce staged again
and again by the U.S., a major country that touts itself as an “international
leader”, is astonishing people around the world.
Even American media outlets
outlined the need for joint anti-pandemic efforts from the international
society, the mission to save lives, and the trend to conduct anti-pandemic
cooperation. However, trying to divert people’s attention, the U.S. politicians
showed no conscience, and they shall never be tolerated for undermining
international cooperation.
The U.S. side once said openly
that it greatly appreciates China’s efforts and transparency, and the data
China shared are helpful for the U.S. efforts against the epidemic. However, Washington
just had a U-turn, and some U.S. politicians thought they could escape their
due responsibilities by doing so.
According to the best practices
for naming new human infectious diseases jointly made by the World Health
Organization (WHO) and other international organizations, disease names shall not
include countries or regions. However, the U.S. politicians blatantly violated
the rules and called the novel coronavirus “Chinese virus” and “Wuhan virus.”
While the international society is generally lauding China’s contribution made
at huge sacrifice, they are forming cliques for blackmailing.
What they have done is an affront
to international law and justice. The terms about sovereign immunity in the
international law stipulate that the practices and treasure of a country are
not bound to the legislation, jurisdiction or administration of other
countries. More importantly, the sudden outbreak of an epidemic is a global
public health incidence, which is considered force majeure in legal context.
China is the first to report COVID-19 infection, but the origin of the virus
needs further science-based studies.
Facts indicate that China’s
containment efforts do not have any causality with the outbreak in the U.S.
Even former Counselor on International Law Chimène Keitner in the U.S.
Department of State couldn’t tolerate the practices of some U.S. politicians.
She said any professionals with actual working experience about sovereign
immunity would find that the U.S. courts have no jurisdiction as long as they
take a look at the titles of the lawsuits.
However, some U.S. politicians
did not drop the idea at all to claim compensation, and they resorted to
exceptions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Lea Brilmayer, professor of
international law at Yale Law School called such practice “a last-ditch effort
to do something to respond to the political situation,” and Keitner considered it
a “total nightmare.”
China firstly reported the
disease doesn’t suggest the virus originated in the country. The source of the
virus is a serious scientific issue that can only be studied by scientists and
medical experts, not the crazy imagination by certain American politicians. In
order to reach political goals, the U.S. politicians illogically fantasized
about the virus’ existence in China, and such groundless assumption driven by
politics is not even agreed by authoritative infection control specialists in
the U.S. who said such blame goes against facts.
It is globally recognized that
China has always responded to the epidemic and shared relevant information in
an open, transparent, timely and responsible manner, and the country was
hailed by the WHO for its moves’ high speed and massive scale which are rarely
seen in the world. China’s all-out efforts have established a strong line of
defense. The political manipulation by certain Americans who ignore facts and
fabricate data has no moral baseline and deviates from humanity.
According to U.S. media, the White
House National Security Council instigated U.S. officials to shift the blames
to China for the coronavirus, and the Senate Republican campaign arm
distributed a 57-page messaging strategy that urged Republican candidates to
blame China for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professor Tom Ginsburg of political
science at the University of Chicago saw through the plot, saying the lawsuits
against China aim to “cover up for the U.S. government’s own errors” and offer
political support for the Republicans in the November election.
Blatantly trampling upon the
sovereignty of other countries and damaging the international rule of law with
supremacy, the U.S. is standing on the totally opposite side of international
justice. It deeply worried Georgetown University professor David Stewart who
remarked that“All those folks looking at China ought to
be looking over their shoulder saying, 'Wait a minute, can we be sued?' ”
The 1918 flu pandemic originated
in the U.S. and caused a huge humanitarian disaster, and who is to blame for
that? The first AIDS infection emerged in the U.S. and later the virus spread
to over 75 million people around the world and led to 35 million deaths, and
who should compensate for the loss? The Wall Street Journal is the origin of
the 2008 financial crisis, so when will the U.S. compensate the world for the
losses over trillions of dollars?
There are also questions that
need to be raised to the U.S. Why are the CT images of the patients of electronic
cigarette pneumonia that broke out last August in the U.S. resemble those of
the COVID-19 patients? What on earth happened in the bioweapons lab in Fort
Detrick, Maryland? When did the earliest COVID-19 infection happen in the U.S.,
since a COVID-19 patient without travel history to China died on Feb. 6? Why are
American scientists silenced for publishing COVID-19 studies in the U.S. which
always brags about its freedom of speech? Chinese and European scientists have
published multiple genetic sequencing results of the novel coronavirus, and why
doesn’t the U.S. release its studies as the top power in biogenetic studies?
The U.S. politicians must give answers.
WHO head Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus warned that countries seeking to politicize the Covid-19 pandemic
are “playing with fire.” “If you don’t want many more body bags, then you
refrain from politicizing it,” he said.
U.S. politicians should listen to
the sincere advice from the civilized world, as the continuing farce would only
lead to fewer supports and self-humiliation.
(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used
by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)
U.S. practice to claim compensation for COVID-19 outbreak a shame for human civilization
Reviewed by PEOPLES MAIL
on
09:53
Rating:
No comments: