Why China is taking COVID-19 leadership role on global stage
'No one is taking the lead internationally,' says Ian Bremmer, Eurasia Group president, discussing how the coronavirus pandemic is playing out globally
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Political scientist Ian Bremmer joined the "Fox News Rundown" podcast Thursday to discuss China’s lack of transparency during the coronavirus pandemic and the role of the World Health Organization.
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"The WHO has been carrying a lot of water for China because they want access and they want the funding," Bremmer said of China's initial denial that the coronavirus could be spread by human-to-human contact. "And there is a difference here. I mean, there's no moral equivalence with the United States government. We may have our own propaganda, but we don't actually tell members of NGOs and ... international government organizations that if they don't carry water for the U.S., that's it, it's over for them."
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Bremmer lamented the lack of unity surrounding the crisis, both inside the United States and around the world.
"You know, after 9/11 and after 2008, the United States took the lead. Allies followed us. The Russians and the Chinese followed us, too," Bremmer said. "In 2020, it's by far the biggest crisis. We don't have our act together politically in the U.S. Our allies are not following us and the Chinese are actively undermining an effort to try to respond effectively. That is a very serious issue."
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The political scientist predicted that life would be very different in America until a vaccine for the virus is created, as well as that business would transform "dramatically."
"There is no question we're going to restart the economy. But until we have a vaccine that works, people aren't going to be comfortable getting on a middle seat and taking their kids to Disneyland," Bremmer said. "They're not going to feel comfortable [enough] to go into a sporting arena with 50,000 people to watch some college football. They're not going to feel comfortable going out to a bar or a rock concert or their favorite local restaurant. And so I think it would take a long time."
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