Proxy War on a Public Health Crisis: US-China Geopolitics in the COVID-19 Era and the Legacy of Paranoia
COVID-19 was never just a public
health emergency—it evolved into a "New Battlefield" for
geopolitical rivalry between great powers. It leaves us with a chilling
thought: if Washington and Beijing had truly joined forces, how many lives
could have been saved, and how much economic ruin averted? Or is human life
destined to remain collateral damage in a high-stakes struggle for global
dominance?
1. Narrative Warfare: When China Became Washington’s Primary Target
While
the world fought a grueling two-front battle against a health crisis and
economic meltdown, Washington and Beijing opened an intense international front
of "Narrative Warfare." Washington zeroed in on Beijing across
two main dimensions:
A. The Numbers Game
In
early April 2020, the US asserted that China’s actual infection figures were
vastly underreported (at the time, US cumulative cases surpassed 187,000, while
China reported roughly 81,500), citing classified Intelligence Assessments.
Republican Senator Ben Sasse publicly called out the Chinese Communist Party
for "lying" about its death toll to safeguard regime legitimacy.
B. The Blame-Shifting Strategy
US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted that China must be held accountable for
American losses, claiming Beijing stonewalled cooperation and concealed data
from day one—a classic playbook of domestic political deflection during a
national crisis.
Strategic Analysis:
- The Reality of Concealment: Under an Authoritarian Regime, structural
incentives favor data manipulation to protect government credibility—a
textbook manifestation of an "Authoritarian Transparency
Deficit."
- Washington’s Distraction
Tactic: Conversely, US officials
leveraged Strategic Ambiguity and classified intel to sow public
skepticism toward China's credibility. This served as a communications
strategy to divert attention from domestic management failures—what
political scientists term "Domestic Deflection."
2. "Mask Diplomacy" and Western Paranoia Over China’s Growing Influence
As
China contained domestic outbreaks and began shipping aid globally, Washington
and its Western allies viewed these moves with deep suspicion, framing them as Soft
Power Projection disguised as "Mask Diplomacy."
- The Neo-Tributary System: Western critics argued Beijing was reviving an
imperial playbook where lesser states must defer to the Middle Kingdom.
Some accused Beijing of exploiting the crisis to export medical gear and
reboot its economy—an approach analysts labeled "Predatory
Altruism."
- Divide and Rule in Europe: EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell warned that
Beijing was weaponizing medical aid to fracture European unity. Scholars
feared Europe would split into pro- and anti-China camps if European
nations relied on Chinese bailouts, stoking deep fears of "Strategic
Dependence" on Beijing.
- Hegemonic Succession: Rush Doshi of the Brookings Institution noted that
Beijing saw a prime opportunity to step into the vacuum of global
leadership while the US faltered—triggering acute "Hegemonic
Anxiety" in Washington.
Political
Irony: While Washington recoiled at
Chinese assistance, President Trump enthusiastically welcomed a planeload of
Russian medical supplies with a warm "Very nice." Irony
abounded: Russia itself faced severe supply shortages but imported unlimited
supplies from China, turning around to send its own stock to the US. This laid
bare how Washington viewed crisis aid primarily through the lens of Political
Bias, rather than humanitarian need or strategic coherence.
3. China and Domestic Critics Counterpunch: The Trump Administration’s Missteps
President
Trump initially praised Xi Jinping on Twitter for his strong and brilliant
leadership. But as US infection rates skyrocketed, Trump shifted his rhetoric,
coining the term "Chinese Virus." This signaled a pivot that
reframed a public health emergency into "Ethno-political Warfare."
Beijing
and domestic US opponents hit back aggressively:
- Chinese State Media Claps Back: China’s Global Times argued that the US
outbreak stemmed from leadership negligence and fake optimism that let the
American public’s guard down—a counter-narrative explicitly
designed to neutralize Washington's offensives.
- Electoral Calculus over Public
Health: Analysts noted Trump
prioritized economic indicators and November re-election prospects over
public health, hesitating on nationwide lockdowns. Political scientists
describe this phenomenon as prioritizing "Political Survival over
Public Health."
- Democratic Backlash:
- Nancy Pelosi argued that Trump's lethal optimism and early denial
proved fatal.
- Hillary Clinton charged that Trump used racist tropes (Chinese virus) to mask his administration's incompetence and early inaction.
4. Situation Update: From "Mask Diplomacy" to "Biosecurity as Geopolitics"
Years
later, the legacy of paranoia from the pandemic era has not faded; it has
evolved into a far more complex and dangerous posture:
A. The Lab Leak Theory & Re-Weaponized Information
Once
dismissed as a fringe conspiracy during the Trump era, the Wuhan lab-leak
hypothesis became mainstreamed under the Biden administration. It was
institutionalized into a bipartisan political cudgel against Beijing—a textbook
case of the Weaponization of Information.
B. Vaccine Diplomacy 2.0 & the Biotech Race
The
battlefield expanded from PPE masks to vaccines, biotechnology, and global
health infrastructure—turning the Global South into the primary arena for Vaccine
Diplomacy 2.0.
C. The BIOSECURE Act and Scientific Decoupling
With
the US passing the BIOSECURE Act, restricting federal contracts with
Chinese biotech giants like BGI and WuXi AppTec, the principle of "Health
Security = National Security" became concrete policy. Science and
public health are now central instruments of Tech Decoupling and Strategic
Competition.
D. Institutional Paralysis at WHO & the Pandemic Treaty
Negotiations
over WHO’s proposed Pandemic Treaty ground to a halt, paralyzed by
US-China-Russia disputes over pathogen data sharing and enforcement mechanisms.
The gridlock highlights how Global Health Governance has fractured under
intense geopolitical friction.
Conclusion: A Humanitarian Crisis Trapped in a Zero-Sum Game
This
escalating clash stands in stark contrast to warnings from global figures:
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (WHO
Director-General): Stressed
that global solidarity is the only way to defeat a pandemic.
- Lee Hsien Loong (Former PM of
Singapore): Warned that mutual
recriminations achieve nothing, cautioning against "Zero-sum
Thinking in a Positive-sum World."
Food
for thought: COVID-19 was a stress test for
humanity. While great power cooperation could have saved millions of lives and
prevented economic ruin, global politics remains trapped: Beijing pushes
relentlessly for Hegemonic Aspiration, while Washington fights tooth and
nail for Hegemonic Preservation.
The
same question echoes louder than ever, with an equally brutal answer:
At
the end of the day, what truly takes precedence for superpowers: Human lives
or National security?
As
we navigate the Biosecurity Age—where the next pandemic could be far
more devastating—will humanity absorb the harsh lessons of COVID-19? Or will
human lives remain permanently held hostage to the games of global power?
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ที่มาภาพ : https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
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