Social Sciences: How has the current global pandemic affected international relations between China and the U.S.

Social Sciences
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Social Sciences
United States of America and China have been at loggerheads since Donald trump into the white house. The Trump administration has blamed the Chinese government for almost every problem, external and internal, and the coronavirus has escalated the woes. The main problem seems to lie with the two leaders of the countries, President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping never seem to agree on any matter, and their ministers follow the mantle. In 2019 there were economic wars between the countries that stretched to the economic sector. There were intense debates on the role of china in the balance of trade deficit that America was experiencing. President Trump alleged that America was importing more Chinese goods than exporting, and America was getting losses from the trade. The primary commodities in exchange were steel products and agricultural products. China importin the latter, while America imported the former.
Moreover, China was a global labor hub, and almost half of the production companies were situated in china due to economic factors like cheap labor and cheap raw materials. America mined steel, but its local companies preferred importing from china because of its low prices. The war led to an increase in unemployment levels, and the standoff affected the American working class greatly. America is one of the largest importers of china’s products due to its large population. The size of its companies and America felt that cutting ties with china would weaken its economic system and diminish its global dominance.
Each of the leaders remained hardline to their positions, and their foreign ministers amplified their messages. However, the underlying issues were not revealed to the public. It seemed that they were fighting for dominance in world economic and political spheres. China had increased its monetary donations, grants, and aids to African and Asian countries. It was slowly taking America's place in global affairs because it was directly involved in countries' economic matters it aided. Huge donations made by china to third world countries led the American presidency to comment that china taking advantage of the third world countries because their engagement terms were unfavorable and exploitative. More blame has been coming from the American side, and china rarely responded to the Trump administration's claims. Apart from the economic debacle, governance issues are also entwined in the standoff. America that is referred to as the father of democracy, fears that China, which is meritocratic, may be advocating for socialism in other countries. China has refuted claims that it is socialist because it has a parliament called the National People's Congress that passes its laws in consensus.
Coronavirus Epidemic
However, the issues between America and china escalated with the discovery of the novel coronavirus and its global spread. In December of 2019, Wuhan's city recorded its first case, and the number of infected people and casualties skyrocketed. Throughout November and December 2019, January 2020 and February 2020, China was devastated by the disease. It reacted rapidly to ensure that containment measures were imposed, and the entire city of Wuhan, which was the primary origin, was placed under total lockdown. By then, the American government had not started propelling information about china's malice and involvement in the issue because cases had not started to be recorded within its borders; it was strictly a Chinese affair. It is important to note that America had started reporting few infection cases. Still, the numbers increased after it brought back its citizens living, studying, or exploring china during the outbreak.
The number of Covid-19 infections rose due to social contact and speculations about its source, and the purpose was being peddled by both America and China. America claimed that china had synthesized the disease in its laboratory as a weapon to weaken its system. President commented that the disease was a political attack more significant than the Pearl Harbor attack, and it had to be investigated. America never revealed any evidence to back its claims, and china was accusing America of slander and false accusations. America claimed that the details would have been revealed if china had not weakened press freedom and remained open throughout the process. The claims were further propelled by the dramatic reduction of COVID-19 cases and casualties in Wuhan while the rest of the global numbers increased exponentially.
Moreover, the disease had devastated the Wuhan economy, but the rest of the leading Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai remained unaffected. The level of Chinese containment o...