U.S.-China Relations in the Age of COVID-19: Politics, Polemics and Pandemic Response Measures

As the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) spreads around the world and many governments prove themselves far from being well equipped to handle a breakout of this scale, the blame game has heated up with a coronavirus ‘war of words’ between the United States and China, which has in turn colored global efforts to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. The virus has now infected 31 million people worldwide, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Given the expanding significance of the COVID-19 around the world, ICAS has dedicated much of its recent research efforts to understanding and debating the impact of the coronavirus on U.S.-China relations.

The China–US relationship, the most important bilateral relationship in the world, currently displays great differences in public opinion, economic and trade priorities, and strategic trust, following the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, the U.S. and China were in a competition over the future management of the international order—the norms, rules, and institutions that govern international politics. The pandemic has accelerated preexisting tensions with no slowdown in sight. ICAS will continue to uphold its responsibility as a bridge between the two nations by providing the public with a greater understanding of the impacts that this life changing event has wrought, both to the world and the ever-evolving U.S.-China relationship.