顾宾：北京外国语大学副教授、中国论坛特约专家，著有《亚投行：全球治理新机制》
在新冠疫情和经济衰退双重阴影的笼罩下，象征着人类团结的联合国迎来了至暗时刻。人与人被迫隔离，国与国面临脱钩，仇恨与“甩锅”的情绪无处不在。习主席在今年9月联合国成立75周年纪念峰会上发表了呼吁各国采取行动的讲话，强调要解决人类社会所面临的这一前所未有的危机，我们必须团结一致，同舟共济。
以史为鉴，当面临诸如金融危机、气候变暖和恐怖主义等全球性挑战时，各国通常会团结合作，共同建立应对危机的机制。但是，和人类现代史上已知的危机相比，新冠疫情所引发的全球性公共卫生危机是前所未有的，必将从根本上改变我们所熟知的世界秩序。
首先，公共卫生安全超越发展，是一个全球性问题。从前，在面对类似埃博拉病毒和疟疾这类卫生问题时，寻求帮助的往往是缺乏预防和救治资金与能力的贫穷国家。但是，新冠疫情的肆虐让我们第一次认识到，公共卫生安全是一个超越发展、不区分贫富的全球性问题。
更糟糕的是，在疫情初期直至今天，多数发达国家的抗疫表现不佳。尤其是美国，把抗疫战变为口水战，导致国内疫情失控，并成功带偏了一些盟国及追随者。我们非常痛心地看到这些国家因“傲慢和偏见”导致如此多的人备受折磨甚至失去生命。相比之下，中国作为新冠肺炎疫情的最初吹哨人，以实际行动为人类战胜疫情树立了榜样。中国在此次疫情中的杰出表现本应得到点赞，而不是被污名化。
其次，从投资回报率角度，需加大公共卫生预防性投资。我们一度狭隘地认为公共卫生安全和其他发展问题一样，对作为捐助国的富裕国家来说是一个仅有资金投入、没有实质回报的领域。这也解释了为什么“抗击艾滋病、结核病和疟疾全球基金”捐助方承诺的补充资金，总是不能及时全额兑现。但疫情告诫人们，当公共卫生领域失去可持续的资金支持时，一场传染病就足以使整个世界陷入瘫痪。
现在我们在全球卫生安全领域投入的资金，一定会功不唐捐，为未来应对危机作出贡献。二十国集团领导人在今年3月举行的特别视频峰会上作出了“迅速、果断”投资卫生安全领域的决定。但我们更希望防患于未然，在和平时期增加公共卫生领域的预防性投资，只有这样才能使该领域的资金投入在最大程度上发挥作用。
最后，新冠危机凸显人类命运共同体的真理属性。正如习主席在今年9月联合国大会一般性辩论上的讲话指出，“如果以邻为壑、隔岸观火，别国的威胁迟早会变成自己的挑战”。这一真理灯塔一直指引我们在这场抗疫战中前进。在国内抗疫的前两个月，中国收到了来自国际社会源源不断的帮助，并对此心怀感激。在3月11日世卫组织宣布新冠肺炎为全球大流行病后，中国向世界各地派出了大批医疗团队和物资，同时在网上分享了检测、预防和治疗新冠肺炎的方法。
在多边场合，中国承诺向协调抗击新冠疫情的主要国际组织——世卫组织提供更多的资金支持，并加入“新冠肺炎疫苗实施计划”（COVAX），促进世界范围内新冠肺炎疫苗的公平分配。中国还踊跃参与了G20“暂缓最贫困国家债务偿付倡议”，该计划对低收入国家抗击疫情至关重要。亚洲基础设施投资银行作为中国发起的多边组织，此次也与其他国际机构一起，第一时间承诺为公共卫生基础设施提供资金支持。
在这场抗疫战中，每个国家都必须作出一个两难抉择——遏制疫情传播和维持经济运转，哪个更优先？中国选择了先控制疫情再重启经济，事实证明这个策略取得了巨大的成功。从一月下旬起，十四亿中国人参与抗疫，赢得了这场战争；中国也成为今年唯一有望实现正增长的主要经济体。同时取得这两方面的成功绝非偶然；离不开中国党和政府从始至终保持公开透明、坚定果决、尊重科学。全世界应立即承认并学习中国的有效行动，不再游移不定！
相比之下，特朗普总统和其他美国官员将新冠肺炎称为“中国病毒”、“功夫病毒”，美国媒体还发布《中国是真正的东亚病夫》这样充斥无知和侮辱色彩的文章——历史上扣在中国人头上的“东亚病夫”帽子，我们永远不会忘记。国际层面上，在退出世卫组织之前，美国仍负有付清欠费的法定义务。但特朗普不仅置该义务于不顾，甚至声称世卫组织是一个腐败、亲华的组织。在这个对于全人类至关重要的时刻，美国放弃了自己的国际责任和领导地位。
特朗普不仅在这场关键的试炼中证明了他的无能，也因为他的不称职和缺乏危机领导力毁掉了自己的连任竞选。与此同时，他对自己的国家、盟友甚至全世界都造成了巨大的伤害。不管美国大选的结果如何，我相信直到任期最后一天，特朗普依旧会把玩弄政治置于科学、事实和法律之上，继续分裂美国人民、煽动仇恨情绪、把责任推给他人。这不仅可能加剧美国国内社会动荡，甚至可能引发美国境内或境外的热战。这对美国无疑是灾难性的，对世界也是极其不利的。无论如何，特朗普在不经意间加速了世界秩序演变。
China’s Example Shines
Gu Bin，Associate Law Professor, Beijing Foreign Studies University
Long a symbol of human solidarity, the United Nations is currently experiencing dark times, as the COVID-19 pandemic casts its deadly shadow and the world economy tumbles. People are being divided. Countries are being decoupled. Hatred and blame are being spread. In a call to action during the celebration of the UN’s 75th anniversary recently, President Xi Jinping of China urged unity in tackling this unprecedented crisis facing the world community.
History tells that when facing a global challenge, such as a financial crisis, climate change or terrorism, countries normally pull together to cooperate. They agree on a responsive international mechanism. Compared with modern history’s other known crises, the global health emergency prompted by COVID-19 is unprecedented and guaranteed to fundamentally change the world order as we have known it.
First, global health security is so much more than a development issue, as it has been framed in the past. It was almost invariably poor and developing countries asking for assistance, as they lacked the wherewithal to treat diseases such as ebola and malaria. But COVID-19 for the first time forces us to think that public health security is a universal problem, respecting neither geographic borders nor socioeconomic status.
Worse still, many rich countries initially, and even recently, performed poorly in the fight against COVID-19. This was, and still is, especially true of the U.S., given its early knowledge about this plague and its leaders’ denigration of public health and science. This is in stark contrast to the early leadership by China and the World Health Organization in containing the virus and warning of the need for immediate action. It is saddening to see that the arrogance has resulted in so much suffering and so many lives lost. The rich world should recognize China’s positive performance, rather than stigmatizing it with racist names such as the “Chinese virus” or “Kungflu”.
Second, we have never appreciated the economic impact of a virus as fully as we have with COVID-19. We thought narrowly that public health security, as with any development issue, only costs money for the rich donor nations while providing no benefit to them in return. Therefore, helping others may make less economic sense for them. That may explain why the amount contributed to the Global Fund, which was created in 2014 to fight epidemics, never collected the full amount pledged. But COVID-19 teaches us that without sustainable financing for public health, a contagious disease can immobilize the whole world.
Investing relatively little money in global health security today will most certainly pay huge dividends in saving lives and economies tomorrow. While it was timely to commit to spend swiftly and decisively at the extraordinary G20 leaders’ summit in March, investments ideally must precede outbreaks to maximize the investment’s potential impact.
The third ray of light emanating from COVID-19 is that mankind is indeed a community with a shared future, and no one is safe until everyone is safe, precisely as expressed by President Xi in his recent UN speech. China has indeed been grateful for the outpouring of assistance from the international community during the first two-months of its national war against COVID-19. In turn, China generously reciprocated when the pandemic was declared by the WHO on March 11. China sent out medical teams and supplies worldwide, while also sharing online its methods for testing, prevention and treatment.
In the multinational arena, China committed to increase funding for the WHO, the main international organization coordinating the fight against COVID-19, and it joined COVAX, a platform working for equitable global access to coronavirus vaccines. China also actively participated in the G20 debt suspension plan, which is critical for low-income countries in the fight against the pandemic. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a multilateral organization initiated by China that is now in its fifth year of operation, also made prompt funding commitments for public health infrastructure alongside peer institutions.
Each country has to address a difficult dilemma in the fight against COVID-19 — containing the disease or saving its economy. Which comes first? China resolved to contain the disease before opening its economy, and the strategy proved a remarkable success. It is the only major economy projecting positive growth this year. In China’s war to contain the virus, literally all its 1.4 billion people have been mobilized since late January. The dual success is no coincidence; the Chinese government has been transparent, resolute and consistent from day one. The tried-and-true best practices established by China should be applauded and followed worldwide — with no more hesitation.
By contrast, President Donald Trump and other officials in the United States have repeatedly called COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” and “Kungflu,” and some American media used the racist headline “China is the real sick man of Asia,” a universally damning idiom that echoes in Chinese ears as a historical insult. Internationally, before the U.S. withdrew from the WHO, Trump ignored his country’s solemn legal obligation to support the WHO, an organization he criticized as both corrupt and pro-China. The U.S. has effectively relinquished its leadership at this critical time for mankind.
Trump not only proved himself utterly incompetent in this crucial test, and his ineptitude and lack of crisis leadership devastated his re-election campaign. At the same time, he grievously injured his country, his allies and the world. Regardless of the results of the U.S. election, I believe that Trump, to his last day in office and perhaps even afterward, will continue to play politics over science, facts and law. He will continue to divide his people and mobilize his base of hate to shift blame onto others, possibly triggering even more domestic social unrest or even hot wars at home or abroad. This will surely be catastrophic for America and bad for the world. In doing so, however, Trump has inadvertently hastened the ultimate restructuring of the world order.
英文原文发表于“中美聚焦”（US-China Focus），原标题《中国典范熠熠生辉》。中文内容有改动，由颜可翻译，顾宾审校
