Editor's note: Ivona Ladjevac is the deputy director of the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, Serbia. This edited commentary reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unimaginable changes to the lives of individuals but also to international relations. As it is an outstanding challenge in international relations, one would at least expect a joint statement from major international actors defining a strategy in combating this menace, but unfortunately, that was not the case.
While billions of people were expecting their respective governments to act responsibly and devote themselves to the global battle to preserve humanity and a "normal" way of life, it didn't happen. As many times before, hegemonic tendencies and selfish interests prevailed, parallel with the efforts to blame those advocating cooperation based on shared responsibility and a sincere devotion toward the common goal – eliminating the pandemic.
The People's Republic of China is an example of a country that acts responsibly since the first day when the virus was detected and introduced strict measures to preserve the lives of its citizens and its economy. To succeed in that goal, China focused all its potential on examining the virus to create a vaccine as the only adequate means to defeat the virus.
Meanwhile, a group of countries, led by the United States, first didn't pay attention to "other peoples' problem." Then, when it became obvious that the virus doesn't respect borders, they blamed China for exporting the virus, eventually starting the widespread politicization of COVID-19 vaccines that undermines both medical science and the international response to the pandemic.
Despite China's responsible attitude – timely informing the World Health Organization (WHO) about the epidemic and calling for international unity – the United States, followed by Great Britain, not only stepped up calls for the WHO to take a deeper look into the possible origins of COVID-19 but U.S. President Joe Biden also instructed U.S. intelligence agencies to "redouble" efforts to find information about how the pandemic emerged.
It is very sad that a country with 630,000 COVID-19 deaths is investing in intelligence operations instead of the medical system and protecting its citizens' lives.
As always, China will go through all these unfounded accusations and continue saving not only its people's lives but offering medical and other types of assistance to countries worldwide.