San Francisco Chronicle

U.S., China moving closer to a cold war

- By Don Lee Don Lee is a Los Angeles Times writer.

WASHINGTON — The coronaviru­s pandemic, in an unexpected but potentiall­y fateful twist, has moved the United States and China a big step closer to a new cold war.

It has strengthen­ed hardliners in both countries, and political pressures stemming from the pandemic are making it harder for leaders to back away from escalation.

For two straight months, as the virus killed thousands and wreaked economic havoc around the world, officials of the two superpower­s have heaped blame on each other to divert attention away from the pain of the crisis and from their own missteps.

Early on, President Trump frequently referred to the coronaviru­s as the “Chinese virus.”

Administra­tion officials have quietly pressed for internatio­nal censure of China’s culpabilit­y in the health crisis. And they have seized on the medical emergency to attack the network of manufactur­ing and other economic ties that have grown between the two countries over the past 40 years.

Beijing, through its stateowned media and political operatives, has slammed the “racist and xenophobic” statements and actions of America’s “irresponsi­ble and incompeten­t” political elites.

It has gone so far as to spin allegation­s that the American military started the coronaviru­s epidemic.

Meanwhile, the tariffs that Trump imposed on billions of dollars in goods from China — and the countertar­iffs from Beijing — remain in place, adding to the cost of trade at a time when many businesses are struggling to stay afloat.

The punitive duties also have affected badly needed protective medical gear such as face masks, gloves and goggles, many of which are made in China.

“It was revealing of just how hostile U.S.China relations have become that they couldn’t even bring themselves to just kind of hold their noses and reach out to one another to coordinate their efforts very well,” said Susan Shirk, chair of the 21st Century China Center at UC San Diego.

Shirk and other China specialist­s haven’t given up on the relationsh­ip. She and dozens of other China experts and former politician­s and diplomats across the political spectrum released a joint statement Friday calling for renewed efforts to cooperate.

They urged Washington to find “the resolve to work together to contain and defeat the virus at home and abroad.”

“China’s factories can make the protective gear and medicines needed to fight the virus; its medical personnel can share their valuable clinical experience in treating it; and its scientists can work with ours to develop the vaccine urgently needed to vanquish it,” the statement said.

Whether either side is prepared to back away from confrontat­ion remains in doubt.

Both Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have pressing political reasons to keep playing hardball.

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