Residents line up to take a nucleic acid test on Tuesday in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Photo: VCG

Even when the results of China and the US in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic contrast so much, some in the US still wish that China could become as bad as the US in terms of the anti-virus fight. 
On Tuesday, the New York Times published an opinion article written by two American health experts titled, "China's Zero-Covid Policy Is a Pandemic Waiting to Happen." Despite admitting China has weathered the pandemic well so far with its strict measures in line with the country's zero-COVID policy, the article claimed China's pursuit of the policy "will prove to be a huge mistake" and China may very well face a future of what the US is facing now - more than 860,000 people have died and some 2,000 more die each day; many hospitals are under siege and the economy has been disrupted.
It's beyond imagination that health experts could make such a prediction that is against common sense. Scientific results speak for themselves. 
If politics is set aside, those working in the fields like health and science are supposed to be able to tell the merits of China's zero-COVID policy and offer feasible advice for their public and government. But now, even US health experts play politics to maliciously smear China's measures. 
There may be many criteria to debate what an effective policy can be in addressing a pandemic as fatal as COVID-19, but the premise must be that the health and life of people is protected as much as possible. Clearly, China made it, while the US didn't.
What prevented the US from making it? This New York Times opinion article provides the clue. Through the analysis with a rather ill intention, they could undermine the public's understanding of the danger of the pandemic and the merits of China's anti-pandemic measures. In the end, they consolidate the prejudice of some Americans toward China's anti-pandemic fight, and provide no meaningful help to the US' poor handling of the epidemic.
As some analysts commented, the COVID-19 pandemic could be the first incidence since the 19th century that the world has witnessed the collective dysfunction of the Western governance system. But it is difficult to get Americans to admit their systematic flaws. Xu Liang, an associate professor at the School of International Relations of Beijing International Studies University, told the Global Times that it is because it has been a long time that Americans view the US as above all other civilizations and they are used to lecturing others with a superior mindset. 
China prioritizes and shoulders the responsibility for people's health and life. If some Americans cannot have an objective view of China's policy, it will not help improve the US' own pandemic fight, and a much higher death toll in the US is foreseen. China's zero-COVID policy will continue until COVID-19 does not pose a major threat to humanity. China's policy is consistent both economically and politically. We are confident that civilization outweighs barbarism. 
There is no way China will follow the US path in the fight against COVID-19. There is one possibility, though, which is that the US is forced to adopt China's zero-COVID policy if it cannot effectively bring the pandemic under control and the death toll keeps rising. Without effective medicine, and if the virus' toxicity doesn't subside, strict prevention and control measures will be the sole option in that scenario.