As Chinese people unite as one to bravely fight the novel coronavirus epidemic and take unprecedented control measures to curb the spread of the virus, some senior U.S. government officials’ remarks about the epidemic, which have included gloating, sarcasm, and slander, have been particularly shocking.

On Jan.30, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo viciously attacked China’s national system under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) during his visit to UK, claiming that the CPC “presents the central threat of our times”.

On Feb.6, FBI Director Christopher Wray said at a conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the largest research institute of international studies in the U.S., that "no country poses a greater threat than Communist China."

On the same day, U.S. Attorney General William Barr told the conference China has emerged as the “top geopolitical adversary” of the U.S.

Wray has hyped up the so-called “China threat” repeatedly since he took office, saying that “China, from a counter-intelligence perspective, in many ways represents the broadest, most challenging, most significant threat we face as a country.”

After the World Health Organization (WHO) praised China for its proactive efforts to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak and curb the spread of the virus, and made clear its opposition to overreacting to the epidemic, the U.S. took the global lead in doing just that. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross even said that the epidemic could “help” bring jobs back to the U.S.

The acts of these senior U.S. officials, who attacked China from an ideological and political standpoint and thought only about taking advantage of China’s difficulties when it is in a key stage of epidemic prevention and control efforts, and also while China-U.S. relations are seeing a general trend towards stable and sound development, go against human conscience and have added to China’s misfortune.

Currently, Chinese people are sparing no efforts in fighting the novel coronavirus in a spirit of solidarity, and also contributing to safeguarding the health of the whole of mankind. The scale, speed, efficiency, and transparency of China’s measures in combating the epidemic are seen as unprecedented in the world, thus gaining widespread praise and support from international organizations including the UN and the WHO as well as various countries around the world.

The international community has offered profound sympathy and help to China, fully demonstrating the spirit of a community with a shared future in the face of a major epidemic.

As leaders of the world’s strongest country, these U.S. officials should understand the significance of using this momentum to follow the general trend of the times.

The world today is characterized by peace, development, cooperation, coexistence of various political systems, ideologies, and patterns of development, as well as mutual learning and exchanges among various civilizations.

A mindset that sticks to old ways of thinking and goes against the general trend is, in fact, a virus too. This virus causes politicians to act against the general tide of the world and make misjudgments in governance, and erodes the health of the international community.

The international community should have a full understanding of this Cold War mentality virus. While combating the novel coronavirus epidemic, the international community should also make joint efforts to guard against this profoundly harmful ideological virus.