Humankind as a community with shared future must put aside differences and act together in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic

　　美国是当今世上综合国力最强、科技最发达的国家，也是抗疫最失败的国家，总统特朗普及夫人梅拉尼娅昨日确诊，就是最新证明。事件被形容为“十月惊奇”、“病毒斩首战”，再也恰当不过。

　　就在数日前召开的联大会议上，特朗普犹在大肆吹嘘他的领导如何“英明”，美国抗疫如何“成功”，这些如今都已沦为国际笑柄。事实是，美国确诊个案突破七百万，死亡人数突破二十一万，这个数字已远远超过了美国自二战结束后捲入所有战争的死亡者总和。和平时期，美国死亡如此惨重，如果这就是特朗普挂在口边的“美国第一”，只能令人悲哀。

　　有果必有因，特朗普看似被亲密助手感染，实则祸根早种，咎由自取。他先是掉以轻心，将疫情轻描淡写为“感冒”；继而隐瞒疫情，扬言“四月份就会结束”；当谎言破灭，他不是向中国泼污水，就是诿罪下属“误导”，或将世衞组织当成替罪羊。可惜，推卸责任不能解决任何问题，病毒不分种族，不问政治，也不管高官权贵还是普通老百姓，谁防疫鬆懈，谁就会受到惩罚。

　　抗疫是科学，中国抗疫做得最成功，就是尊重科学之故。美国深陷疫情的泥沼难以自拔，最大原因是特朗普抗疫无视科学，不理专家意见，反而将疫情当成“政治牌”来打，内攻政敌，外打中国。最荒唐的是，特朗普还曾推销一种消毒藥水，并吹嘘一种未经证实的抗疫藥物，亲自试用，而且误导公众。到头来，他自己被疫情击倒，被破掉的不仅是“金刚不坏之身”，还有他吹下的无数牛皮。这个自诩美国史上“最伟大”的总统，原来是没有穿衣的皇帝。

　　西方国家在疫情前不堪一击，东方国家表现较好，为人们带来新的思考。以特朗普的阅历，不可能不知道病毒厉害及戴口罩有效，但他为了迎合选民的口味，一再做出荒唐无稽的事来，更不顾传染风险到处拉票，最终是害人复害己。中国抗疫“人命至上”，美国抗疫“选票至上”，甚至认为死者都是上了年纪的人，没有必要为他们浪费医疗资源，西方的“人权”就是这麼的虚伪。

　　如果说新冠疫情有正面意义，那就是证明人类是命运共同体，只要地球村有一个地方存在疫情，其他人就没有安全可言。为抗疫，领导者不能再操弄政治，而应该携手同心打好这一仗，否则，疫情没完没了，更多更大的灾难还在后头。

　　2020-10-03

　　In the world today, the United States of America is the strongest country in terms of its comprehensive national strength, and it owns the most advanced science and technology. Yet it is also the biggest loser in the battle against the pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and the latest evidence in this regard is served by the fact that both U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump were confirmed yesterday to have contracted the coronavirus. No other description of this incident is more appropriate than an “October surprise” or a “decapitation war by a virus”.

　　Just at the general debate of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly days ago, Trump was still wantonly boasting about his “wise” leadership and America’s “success” in fighting against the coronavirus. Now all this has become an international laughing stock. As a matter of fact, the number of confirmed infection cases in the U.S. already exceeds seven million with more than 210,000 deaths. This death toll is far bigger than the total number of Americans killed in all wars the U.S. has got itself into since the end of the World War Two (WWII). So many Americans have perished in peacetime. If this were the “America First” as Trump keeps talking about over and over, then it is really a great grief.

　　“Out of nothing, comes nothing.” Trump seems to have gotten the infection from his close aide, but it is his own undoing in the final analysis so the blame lies with himself and no one else.　　In the beginning, he took the COVID-19 lightly, playing it down as some “influenza”; then he covered up the outbreak of the infectious disease, asserting that “it would come to an end in April”; after such lies were exposed, he began to either sling mud at China or blame his subordinates for “misleading” him, or make the World Health Organization (WHO) the scapegoat. Unfortunately, shirking responsibility solves no problem. The virus is non-racial and apolitical. It punishes whoever is slack in epidemic prevention - be he or she a high-ranking official, a powerful, a rich or an ordinary person.

　　Epidemic prevention and control is a science. China is the most successful in epidemic prevention exactly because it respects science.　　The Unites States is bogged down in a quagmire and finds it difficult to extricate itself, mostly because Trump ignores science in epidemic prevention. He turns a deaf ear to opinions of experts and instead plays the epidemic as a “political card” to attack his political enemies internally and China externally. The most absurd thing is that he had even once promoted injecting disinfectant as treatment, boasted about an unapproved drug and took it personally, misleading the public. In the end, he is knocked down by the virus, hence shattered are not only his “super and indestructible body” but also all his brags. This self-boasted “greatest” president of the United States in history turns out to be a cloth-less emperor.

　　In the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, Western countries can hardly withstand a single blow while Eastern countries show a better performance. This gives people new food for thought. Given his background and experience, it is impossible for Trump not to know about the severity of the virus and the effectiveness of wearing face masks. Yet he, in order to cater to the taste of voters, has repeatedly done absurd things and even run about to solicit votes regardless of the risk of spreading infection. This turns out to injure others and himself in the end. In the battle against the pandemic, China upholds “Human Lives First”, while the U.S. sticks to “Votes First” and even to the view that there is no need to waste medical resources since the deaths caused are mostly aged people. How hypocritical the West’s advocacy for “human rights” is!

　　If the COVID-19 pandemic could be said to have some positive significance, then this lies in that it shows humankind is a community with shared future. In this Global Village, when there is a disease breaking out in a place, there can hardly be safety for others elsewhere. In this battle against the pandemic, leaders must stop engaging in political manipulations and act together with one heart to win out. Otherwise, the disease will spread without end, and more and greater catastrophes are yet to come

　　03 October 2020