BEIJING, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Wednesday marks the 99th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). After weathering the COVID-19 epidemic, the Chinese people believe more firmly that the CPC leadership is the most reliable shelter against storms. The slander game, played by some U.S. politicians, will never manage to hide this fact, and whitewash their own incompetence.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and other like-minded American politicians, recently kept uttering slanderous remarks about China's response to COVID-19, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong policies. With a deep-seated Cold-War mindset and ideological bias, they turn a blind eye to China's stunning development achievements, while ignoring their severe problems at home.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people have created economic miracles and long-term social stability. The CPC and the country's political system have withstood the test of time, and won more trust and support from the people in the process of fighting the epidemic.

The Singapore-based insights agency, Blackbox Research, in a recent survey found that 85 percent of Chinese people believe China will emerge stronger from this crisis, ranking the highest, compared with 41 percent of Americans. It is fair to say that Pompeo's slander peddling will only bury Washington's already shaky credibility.

An unexpected crisis is a litmus test of a ruling party's governance. In China, within little more than a single month, the rising spread of the virus was contained; in around two months, the daily increase in domestic cases had fallen to single digits; and in approximately three months, a decisive victory was secured in the battle to defend hard-hit Hubei Province and its capital city of Wuhan. The achievements were made thanks to the strong leadership of the CPC, which made correct and effective decisions rapidly in response to the crisis.

According to a white paper released by the State Council Information Office of China, more than 39 million CPC members fought the virus at the front lines, and more than 13 million members volunteered their services. Nearly 400 CPC members have defended others' lives and safety at the cost of their own.

In stark contrast, the number of confirmed cases, deaths, and deaths per million people in the United States is respectively 30, 27, and 129 times higher than that of China. It is puzzling to understand how a country, boasting the world's most advanced and sophisticated medical technology, has topped pandemic infections and deaths globally. It is even more puzzling to understand how that government, responding so poorly to a crisis, has kept shifting blame to another country.

Smearing the CPC will only make the U.S. politicians' dereliction more obvious. Struggling with the twin predicaments of a ravaging pandemic and widespread protests against racial discrimination at home, Pompeo and other like-minded American politicians have put political expediency above people's lives.

Undoubtedly, the CPC governance legitimacy shines even brighter amid global uncertainty. When domestic tensions continue to wreak havoc across the United States, saving and respecting lives at home should be given top priority. The U.S. politicians had better stop talking nonsense and deceiving the world, otherwise, they will only continue to disgrace themselves.