During this period of coronavirus crisis, the United States and China are waging an underground war.
In world wars, diplomats are never far away. They negotiate with the allies, sometimes even attempt contact with the enemies. And always with one idea in mind: they are not the ones who can win the war, but they are the ones who can win the aftermath. And what is true of classic wars is also true in this great global fight against the coronavirus. Diplomacy is fully mobilized, both to coordinate the fight against the pandemic, and to establish positions for the future.
This is for example what has been called "diplomacy of the mask"?
Absolutely, in other words, this great Chinese offensive, this vast distribution of masks around the world, including in Europe and France, to fight against the coronavirus. China has made it a powerful political argument, both a gigantic operation to promote its regime (look how efficient I am; I can supply hundreds of millions of masks), and then an equally impressive operation of influence in certain areas, I think for example of Africa (to whom they say: look how essential I am to your economy)…
And opposite, the United States reacts…
Yes, for some time now. But this time, the offensive seems to harden. Donald Trump, for example, accused the WHO of being under Chinese domination, and of having thus long concealed the truth about this pandemic. The weeks of delay in admitting the existence of a Covid-19 have cost tens of thousands of lives in the rest of the world that could not prepare. And that's why Mike Pompeo, the American secretary of state, met yesterday with some European journalists. Objective: to point out the responsibility of China. And put it in default where it is weakest: transparency…
So he asked Beijing to deliver information on the crisis to them?
That's it. He explains that a leader "who organizes disinformation puts at stake the life of his fellow citizens, of course, but also that of people all over the world". It therefore requires "total transparency of information", that journalists can be free. He even requests that international teams be able to come and investigate on the spot in China. What is certain, in any case, is that Mike Pompeo does not believe a word of what Beijing says about the virus.
You said that diplomats, during wars, prepare for the after. And there?
Trump's foreign minister has repeatedly opposed the free, transparent world of secrecy and disinformation. Democracies on the one hand, against dictatorships on the other. Europe, the United States on the one hand, against China, Iran, Venezuela or North Korea on the other. It is a way of establishing a front, or in any case a line of rupture, a way of putting China back in its place and countering its offensive. And that is for the future, when it will be necessary to know who to count on to revive the economy and rebuild all that this virus will have helped to destroy.