The US Scapegoats China for Domestic Pandemic Response Failure

The United States must address domestic challenges caused by COVID-19 rather than put all its efforts into looking for scapegoats to blame for its own problems, said the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Director Andrey Kortunov.

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The investigation led by the U.S. intelligence community into COVID-19 origins has a clear end-goal of diverting attention from the country's pandemic response failures and casting blame on China.

"The epic U.S. failure to cope with the pandemic, especially in comparison with the undoubtedly superior performance of China... casts a shadow on the ability of the U.S. to serve as the global model and as the global leader," Kortunov said.

Even with a huge health budget, the United States showed it was dangerously unprepared to fight the pandemic and continues to be the country with the world's most COVID-19 deaths and confirmed cases to date.

"Instead of looking for scapegoats overseas, the U.S. administration has to focus on putting its house in order," the RIAC Director pointed out, adding that the pandemic has exposed fundamental flaws rooted in the U.S. health care system.

"Badmouthing China will not help in addressing these problems, while carefully studying the Chinese experience in coping with the pandemic and in managing its public health system probably will," he concluded.

Kortunov said that leadership in the 21st century should not be marked by aggressive smear campaigns but empathy and the ability to learn from best practices, which the United States has yet to demonstrate.