US society knows how to help China amid epidemic better than American politicians

Global countries are lending a helping hand to China amid the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Under the coordination of the US Department of State, 16 tons of medical and protective materials have been donated to epicenter Hubei by American charity organizations, including 380,000 pieces of N95 masks, 29,000 pairs of medical gloves and 6,000 protective suites.

However, the up to $100 million of assistance for China and other affected countries promised by the department is still not in position.

Compared with the US government, the US businesses, friendly organizations and civil society organizations are acting way more actively. Over 100 member enterprises of the American Chamber of Commerce in the People’s Republic of China (AmCham China) have donated cash and supplies totaling 500 million yuan ($71 million) for China.

According to statistics from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the US companies have offered the most assistance to China among their global peers, and their donation is much higher than that made by companies from other countries.

The U.S. non-governmental humanitarian aid organization MedShare, the Coca-Cola Foundation and United Parcel Service (UPS) jointly donated 1.8 million pieces of masks and 80,000 protective suits to China, which marks the largest-ever single donation of medical supplies made by the U.S. society.

The 200,000 pieces of masks, 27,500 pairs of medical gloves, and 4,000 protective suites from the first batch of donation by DirectRelief, one of the “10 Best Charities Everyone’s Heard Of” in the US, have also arrived at Wuhan Union Hospital recently.

Besides, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation founded by Bill Gates announced that it would immediately commit up to $100 million for the global response to the 2019 novel coronavirus, and $5 million of the fund has been delivered to relevant Chinese organizations.

The National Committee on United States–China Relations, US-China Business Council and George H. W. Bush Foundation for US-China Relations have collected medical supplies, including masks for China, and these supplies were sent to China by the charter flight of FedEx free of charge. In addition, the NBA has also donated 5 million yuan to China.

Walter Ian Lipkin, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, known as “virus hunter”, came to China at the first opportunity and worked with Chinese academicians including Zhong Nanshan to study the virus, saying he’s willing to offer new diagnostic reagents free of charge.

Many people and experts in the US also offered new vaccines and drugs that might help, and a significant number of US citizens expressed their sympathy and support for China through the Chinese embassy and consulates in the US.

The overseas Chinese and Chinese students in the US played their parts, too. According to Chinese Consulate General in New York, organizations, overseas Chinese and Chinese students in its consulate region have donated nearly $40 million in cash and materials to China, including 7 million pieces of masks and 217,000 protective suits.

The epidemic is like a mirror that reflects the friendship between the Chinese and Americans. However, it has also presented the nature of some US politicians who smell blood and favor a chaotic world.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, rather than offering constructive ideas for China to better cope with the epidemic, has been slandering China and trying to alienating the Chinese people from the Communist Party of China.

Wilbur Ross, the US Secretary of Commerce even remarked that the epidemic in China would “help to accelerate” the return of jobs to the US, which is totally inhumane.

Senator Tom Cotton, who has always been an anti-China enthusiast, said blatantly that the coronavirus might have been created in a Chinese laboratory for biological warfare.

The Wall Street Journal, titled the headline of one of its articles “China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia”. Such act is nothing but indulgence of racism.

Even when China has achieved initial progress of epidemic control, Senator Marco Rubio was still turning a blind eye to the facts, making nonsense that the data released by China were not real and the epidemic was not contained.

Fortunately, the Chinese people are from a nation that values friendship and has a clear-cut stand on what to love and what to hate. From the bottom of our heart, we appreciate and will always remember our sincere friendship with the American people. The epidemic knows no border, and the cooperation between China and the US amid the epidemic should be something that highlights their bilateral relationship, rather than breaking it.

When the two peoples are joining hands to combat the novel coronavirus, they should also eliminate the “virus” that hinders the development of China-US ties, fans up hatred between the two countries, and instigates confrontation between the two peoples.