US Senator Tom Cotton speaks to the media after attending a briefing with administration officials about the situation with Iran on January 8 in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP

As one of the first group of doctors in Wuhan to raise the alarm over the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Dr. Li Wenliang was widely mourned by his compatriots. He was granted the title "Outstanding Individual" in epidemic prevention by Chinese authorities. But he has also been unethically exploited by some US politicians to attack China. 

It is unconscionable to use the death of the doctor, a member of the Communist Party of China, in an unwarranted smear that suggests superior morality. Such was the actions of the US Senate on March 3, which passed a resolution commemorating Li that was sponsored by six senators including the infamous conspiracy monger Tom Cotton. 

Cotton has disreputably promoted himself by attacking and slandering China (remember his debunked conspiracy on the origin of COVID-19) which leads to the question: Is there the slightest possibility that Cotton actually cares about Li, or the Chinese people? The answer is obviously no!

It is easy to see the true intentions of Cotton and the other sponsors. They are using Li's tragic death as an opportunity to again launch a political attack against China, and challenge China's core interests. 

US officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and politicians like Cotton continue to denounce China in order to shift the attention of Americans away from their government's mismanagement of the pandemic. 

China has been in an all-out battle with the COVID-19 and has managed to bring it under control. Meanwhile the US is facing a horrific mess after failing to contain the coronavirus, which now appears to have been spreading unchecked in the US for weeks.

Senator Ed Markey, one of the sponsors of the resolution, said, "We should reject efforts by any government that places political expediency over an open and scientific approach to tackling this global health crisis." How infuriatingly ironic. This is exactly what the US federal government is now doing.

US politicians who have been politicizing COVID-19 are downplaying the threat to the American people, and passing the blame. The Cotton-sponsored resolution is another low attempt to deceive the American public and provide cover for the US government's incompetence. 

China has quickly turned the tide against this once unknown virus, and has bought time for the rest of world. The US instead has been busy carrying on its rivalry with China, putting its political interests ahead of public health. 

China has shared data with other countries since the very beginning of its fight against COVID-19, yet the US, which is supposed to have "many advantages" and "the world's best doctors, nurses, and health-care professionals," as Cotton declared, has fumbled virus testing. 

Slandering China will help those malicious US politicians make headlines rather than help Americans overcome the crisis. Attacking China will only damage the international image of the US rather than hinder China's efforts to save its people and help the world. Passing the buck to China will mean Americans let their guard down rather than protect themselves from the deadly virus. 

The US government should figure out what is righteous at this very crucial period and stop its paranoid of rivalry with China. The US doesn't have much time. It must become aware before it is too late.

The article is a commentator with the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn