Medical workers take in patients at a special coronavirus intake area at Maimonides Medical Center on April 07 in the Borough Park neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Photo: AFP

The New York Times Chinese published an article titled "What if the West loses in this epidemic?" The author, Deng Yuwen, discusses in the article whether the Western system will lose to the Chinese system when facing such a global public health emergency.

Many Western people have a similar mindset as the author. They are still sticking to the zero-sum mindset. When facing the COVID-19 pandemic, the common enemy of mankind, they are still arguing which country will lose and which will win. Some Western people have always regarded political systems as the crux.

But these people should understand that no matter what kind of political system a country adopts, the most important thing is to take the most advantage of its own system when facing the epidemic. This, of course, includes how to learn from other countries' effective prevention and control methods and jointly overcome the difficulties. Thus, this is not a question of which country wins the final competition, but a question of coexistence, common development and common victory over the enemy of all human beings.

Indeed, different political systems have different ways to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic. We hope countries can all find the best way to protect people's lives to the maximum. If China "wins" in a sense, it is because China has successfully saved more lives than some Western countries.

However, this does not necessarily mean the system that has protected more lives will become a global choice because the choice of a political system is largely related to a country's history and culture. China has not and will not promote its political system to the world.

The West's worries reflect their rejection of the Chinese political system. Some in the West still believe that their system is supreme and universal, and they are always afraid that other countries will learn from China's successful experience. It is such a mindset that has stopped them from learning effective experience from China's epidemic prevention and control.

We hope that no matter what anti-epidemic measures, they can become a common experience for mankind as long as they are effective. 

As Chinese renowned respiratory scientist Zhong Nanshan said on Wednesday during his talk with 19 foreigners who are working and studying in Guangzhou, "One world, one fight!" Ideologies have borders, but the virus knows no borders or ideology. This is exactly why we should cooperate to deal with the raging pandemic.

Perhaps the biggest lesson that we should learn from the COVID-19 pandemic is countries with different political systems and ideologies should unite to deal with our common enemy. Learning to coexist may be the goal of human development in the future as well as the solution to global problems.