Coronavirus: No More "Wuhan Virus", US, China Reach Truce Amid Global Pandemic

Coronavirus: No More "Wuhan Virus", US, China Reach Truce Amid Global Pandemic(File)

NEW DELHI: The United States and China have reached a truce in a bitter feud over the COVID-19 pandemic, with the two world powers each seeing at least a tactical interest in cooling down. No more "Wuhan virus."

US President Donald Trump, known for his word choices, has dropped his provocative term "Chinese virus" and held back from criticizing Beijing's response since a telephone call, on March 26 US time, with his counterpart Xi Jinping.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who so insisted on saying "Wuhan virus" that the Group of Seven foreign ministers could not issue a joint statement -- has been talking of cooperation.

"We know that this is a global pandemic, and this is the time for every country to work together to resolve that," Pompeo told reporters Tuesday when asked about China.

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Beijing enraged the United States last month when a foreign ministry spokesman spread a conspiracy theory that US troops brought the coronavirus to China's city Wuhan.

Cui Tiankai, China's gentlemanly ambassador to Washington, struck a highly different tone in an op-ed in The New York Times in which he spoke of his affection for Americans and promised China would do "whatever it can to support the United States."

State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus welcomed Cui's remarks but called China to share COVID-19 data and allow free speech. "True cooperation requires transparency and real actions, not just rhetoric," she said.

Many observers saw Trump's blaming of Beijing as a political ploy as he faced criticism for not taking action sooner to stop coronavirus, which has killed more than 12,000 people in the United States.

In this crisis with medical supplies in dangerously short supply, Trump also needs China, which produces half of the imported masks in the United States.

"Washington certainly does not want to alienate Beijing to the point that it bans the sale of medical equipment to the United States," said Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

"It also reflects a broader sentiment within much of the United States that this is not the time to play an international blame game -- the priority should be on saving American and other lives."

The economy said the Trump administration may also feel that it no longer needs to be as upfront, especially when other countries have also stepped up criticism of Beijing.

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