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Bloomberg
The Trump administration’s relentless attacks on China over the cause of the coronavirus outbreak are targeted at a domestic audience in an election year. But they may have the effect of emboldening Beijing’s leaders.
President Donald Trump promised a “conclusive†report on the Chinese origins of Covid-19, shortly after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said — without providing proof — that “enormous evidence†showed the outbreak began in a Wuhan laboratory.
For weeks now, China has aggressively pushed back at the US, Europe and Australia over criticism about its handling of the virus. Last week it called the Wuhan lab allegations “baseless,†and even released an animated video mocking the US response. US intelligence agencies don’t believe the coronavirus was created by humans or genetically modified in China.
Each side has its own imperatives. Trump needs to counter criticism of his own response to the virus. Beijing’s leaders see their economy worsening, and whipping up nationalism is a tried-and-true distraction.
But it also reflects China’s increased confidence. Since Trump took office, China has absorbed blows from Trump on everything from trade to human rights to security concerns over 5G networks. And yet the world’s second-biggest economy has shown it is key to global supply chains and that it has deep investment pockets. An absence of global leadership by the US under Trump hands China a potential advantage.
China knows it will be a punching bag for both parties in the run-up to the US presidential election. But it also realises it can afford to hit back.