When the Black Death broke out in the Middle Ages, taking the lives of one third of all Europeans, panic-stricken people blamed the Jews for bringing the disease, research suggests.

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It seems that history has repeated itself during this pneumonia outbreak; only this time it's Chinese people who have fallen victim to American politicians. Recently, some U.S. officials have started a new rumor that China is trying to hack data from research into a possible vaccine from the U.S.

The pandemic has revealed the ugly side of some American politicians who are trying to connect a public health emergency with politics.

In order to pass the buck and win this year’s presidential election, some U.S. officials "lied, cheated, and stole"—the very words used by U.S. State of Secretary Mike Pompeo when describing how the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trains agents — starting a series of rumors about China, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other institutions.

At the same time, at a loss over how to deal with the pandemic, they simply pretended that everything is under control.

Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, have repeated that the greatest enemy right now is not the virus, but fear, rumor and stigma.

The clumsy tricks attempted by Pompeo and other U.S. officials have held back America in its fight against the virus, undermined international cooperation and poisoned China-U.S. relations.

The pandemic has actually proven once again that humanity is a community of shared future. No country can call itself perfectly safe until the pandemic is effectively brought under control in all countries.

Now is the time to carry out transnational scientific exchanges on the basis of mutual respect, not to spread conspiracy theories or rumors about the origin of the virus, according to an open letter published in the New York Times by Chinese and American experts on public health.

The virus should be the only enemy of all mankind right now. The harder some Americans try to cover up their faults and scapegoat China, the more difficult it is for the world to unite in fighting against the pandemic.

Before the pandemic is even over, the U.S. government has attempted to hold China responsible for the outbreak and even claimed compensation from it, a move that actually serves to help the spread of the virus.

The priority for each country should not be to choose sides between China and America, but to choose between truth and lies, cooperation and hegemony, multilateralism and unilateralism.

Faced with a common enemy like the virus, some U.S. officials have abandoned the idea of unity and cooperation for their own benefit. This will not only expose themselves to risks, but will also encourage the spread of the coronavirus.

The U.S. has encountered the biggest public health crisis of the age. It is sad to see the American people having to endure a Secretary of State who goes against global anti-epidemic cooperation, as some American scholars pointed out.

Related reading：

First question to American politicians: Do elderly people have the right to life?

Second question to American politicians: Is this what you call ‘human rights’?

Third question to American politicians: Can lives be saved by attacking China?

Fourth question to American politicians: Why not fix your sick and twisted mind first?

Fifth question to American politicians: Aren’t you afraid that passing the buck to China will backfire?

Sixth question to American politicians: Aren’t you aware of what you have done?