This interview with Fu Ying, director of the Center for International Strategy and Security from Tsinghua University, was published in the “Special Reporting” column on page 11 of Reference News on Monday. The following is an excerpt of the interview.

Fu Ying (File photo: huanqiu.com)

Reference News: How do you comment on the cooperation between China and US to fight against the coronavirus? What do you think is the biggest barrier in deepening bilateral cooperation?

Fu Ying: Humans are fighting against coronavirus, an invisible enemy, for their life at present. No country can go it alone in containing the coronavirus, and therefore global cooperation has become the general desire for every individual in the world. Cooperation between China and US is the core foundation of global collaboration.

Even though the US government did not show concern for China during our hard struggles to tackle the coronavirus, we are grateful for US enterprises and individuals for offering us help. US officials are confronting a disadvantageous situation currently, and now they are blaming China for the outbreak of this pandemic. This bilateral relationship is poisoned due to US finger-pointing, and consequently China does not manage to cooperate with US.

The root of this is that some US officials insist on strategically competing with China. These officials are unwilling to make any concession to collaborate, since they believe cooperation will disturb their so-called strategies. The irrational remarks including comments on Chinese affairs are ubiquitous with the approach of US election. The current relationship between China and the US severely hinders bilateral cooperation and discourages other countries from international collaboration.

Reference News: How will Chinese and US global influence change respectively after this pandemic?

Fu Ying: The US handling of coronavirus pandemic illustrates that its hegemonic influence is fading out. The hegemony model, which prioritizes strategic competition and zero-sum games, cannot protect domestic citizens or take responsibilities in a new globalized world. It can be projected that global leadership will be reconsidered after the pandemic among academics of international strategies.

In the future, the collective choice of humans would be the power of promoting collaboration rather than hegemony. China, which is neither former the Soviet Union nor the next US, is a rising power following the path of peaceful development. It is seeking cooperative partners and will take building multilateral and cooperative relations as the global agenda.

Reference News: What foreign policies toward the US will you suggest during and after the fight against the coronavirus?

Fu Ying: According to discussions of Chinese and US scholars, the current top priority is cooperating in response to the pandemic. China, the US and countries all over the world are supposed to share information and exchange experience more frequently based on mutual trust. Meanwhile, it is crucial to support developing countries to prevent and control the pandemic, since it can contain the larger scale outbreak. Every country should also make concrete efforts to cooperate in the development, manufacturing and distribution of a vaccine and specific medicine such as sharing research achievements.

In the long run, China and US need to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries on constructing a stable, coordinated and cooperative relationship. 

(Compiled by Li Yingtao)