OPINION >> Columnists

Trump team is driving US to 'failed state' status

It's unthinkable that US media outlets would call their own country a “failed state.” The term was once used to describe US adversaries such as Iran and Iraq. The US think tank Fund for Peace started its annual report called Failed States Index in 2005. It has been renamed the Fragile States Index and is produced jointly with Foreign Policy magazine. It didn't take long for the US to be included in the index.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/27 20:13:41

New attacks on Chinatowns are blind to the facts

The Chinese Lunar New Year, which always falls in the first or second month of the Gregorian calendar, is normally the busiest time in Chinatowns across the US. Celebrations attract tens of thousands of visitors to these neighborhoods where traditions are best kept. But this year, the most important holiday for Chinese corresponded with the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, which had ignited early racial attacks against Asians.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/23 17:33:40

COVID-19 reveals countries' differing capacity

When it comes to the prevention, control and treatment of the COVID-19, countries around the world have adopted both similar and different measures. Different ways of containing the pandemic are determined by different countries' own political systems and governance. Europe and the US have similar political systems, yet their measures to rein in the virus are disparate. This shows their different state capacities.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/22 19:43:41

Read the past, know the future

Will the year 2020 be a watershed in economic cycles like the 2008 financial crisis? A watershed like the great power structure change after the end of the Cold War in 1991? A watershed like the one in world order at the end of WWII in 1945? Or even a watershed for civilizations brought by Ferdinand Magellan's voyage in 1519?
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/20 19:08:40

Personal privacy vs public protection; a pandemic dilemma

Every country has to reach a delicate balance between privacy and public health. There is no perfect solution. But when lives are at stake, even as a very private person, I can see which side of the seesaw should carry most weight.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/16 15:13:40

Lack of basic knowledge of viruses a main cause of global pandemic

A combination of raising people's awareness of viruses and the development of medicine and vaccines will boost humanity's ability to handle public health crises. After all, humans will always have to co-exist with viruses. The more we understand this adversary from nature, the better we can prepare to combat it.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/15 16:38:40

Post-pandemic may be more enlightened era

Focusing only on one's national borders is limited. It's also shortsighted to play the blame game during a global pandemic. Infectious diseases are no longer a simple medical problem, nor a problem of one country. Instead, it is a problem of global ideology. When facing the spread of the Black Death, humans rethought their relations with the world, which lead to the Renaissance and produced modern civilization.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/13 18:53:40

Global trust will also take a long time to heal

China-US relations are the most important bilateral relationship in the world. Due to the damage caused by the trade war and high-tech supply chain breaks, mutual trust between the two countries will be even more fragile in the postpandemic world. Therefore it's difficult to be optimistic about the future for China-US relations.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/8 21:23:40

It's the US, stupid!

We need to start by changing the deep-rooted mind-set of existing governance paradigms and begin showing global solidarity.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/6 18:13:41

Free market weakens US supply chain of much-needed medical supplies

Indeed, when we doff the tainted glasses of ideology, we can see that marshaling a country's economic and industrial resources to achieve a common goal is as essential as the temporary shelter-in-place policy that many of us are now abiding by. In an abnormal era, this is what we call the new normal.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/1 18:13:41

Post-pandemic world must close governance loopholes

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, all countries have to withstand the blow and get through the challenge as soon as possible. In the future, how to promote their governance system and enhance operation will be their priority. Where globalization heads depends on such resilience.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/1 16:43:41

COVID-19 blunders signal end of 'American Century'

For most people it's unfathomable that the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is the first global event that hasn't been led by the US since 1941. In 1941, the US was a leader in the worldwide antifascist war. During this current global fight against an invisible enemy, the US is hardly able to protect itself. The US should have been much better prepared for the outbreak considering the coronavirus came to its shores after it had rampaged through China, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, Germany and Britain.
Source: Global Times | 2020/3/30 19:38:40

Regardless of speaker's intentions, 'Chinese virus' is racist

Regardless of the speaker's understanding and intention of choosing a word, it is the listener's feeling that matters in the judgment of the legitimacy of a word.
Source: Global Times | 2020/3/27 14:58:40

US virus fight lacks China's courier services

In Europe and the US, there are plenty of groceries and toiletries on store shelves, but due to a lack of delivery services, people cannot stay home for extended periods. They have to go out to buy daily supplies, which has created window for the spread of COVID-19.
Source: Global Times | 2020/3/25 18:23:40

Trump govt's three big lies hurt Americans

China's image will not be dented by lies which will however ultimately hurt Americans. There are three main “China lies” promoted by the Trump administration.
Source: Global Times | 2020/3/23 18:38:40

Befuddled by US orders not to wear a mask

Self-sacrifice has always been considered the highest virtue in a collective culture like China's. Many Chinese healthcare workers were infected by the virus because they didn't wear or have access to protective equipment but there was never an attempt to tell the public not to wear a mask or that they were of no use.
Source: Global Times | 2020/3/19 18:33:40

US should save us from 'globalization shock'

I look forward to a better world and better China-US relations after the global shock season of 2020 finally comes to an end.
Source: Global Times | 2020/3/16 17:28:40

New Yorkers' calm feels like the start of a horror film

The US' sluggish start could be attributed to many factors, from ideological and cultural differences, to the artificial calm instilled by top leaders during an election year, and human nature that numbs us to problems from afar. This is not the time for psychoanalysis, because there is no time.
Source: Global Times | 2020/3/12 15:28:40