李成(Cheng Li)布鲁金斯学会约翰·桑顿中国中心主任

麦瑞安(Ryan McElveen)布鲁金斯学会约翰·桑顿中国中心副主任

如果在今天书写新冠疫情的历史，其叙事不会像以往的疫情那样以全球的共同事业为主调，而会是绝望和相互指责。

没有什么比中美政府合作的缺失更能概括这段故事了。中国率先受到病毒暴发的打击，而美国感染的人数最多，死亡人数也最多。两国都在推卸责任，打宣传战，宣扬阴谋论。

随着疫情进入第二个年头，世界各地已经出现新的变异病毒，不过我们仍然有时间改变疫情的叙事。控制疫情的紧迫任务只能通过全球协调来完成，这需要世界最大两个经济体的积极参与。以下就是中美两国现在必须合作终结疫情的十个理由。

1、恢复公共卫生合作的传统。中美两国政府有悠久的合作历史，应对了半个世纪以来的几乎每一场全球性健康危机，包括艾滋病、非典、H5N1流感(禽流感)、H1N1流感、H7N9流感和埃博拉。遗憾的是，迄今为止官方对新冠疫情的反应成了一个例外。这场疫情的严重性和不可预测性需要我们回归历史上合作的先例。

2、医学界要保持紧密联系。尽管政治障碍削弱了政府间合作，但在整个新冠危机期间，太平洋两岸的医学专家和科学家保持了广泛而活跃的沟通与协作。中美两国专家在冠状病毒研究上的合作比与其他任何国家的合作都多——包括在主要期刊上发表100多篇文章——这使新冠疫情期间的合作超过了过去五年的总和。顶尖的病毒学家和其他医学专家还参加了以防治病毒为重点的联合网络研讨会。

3、提高透明度和数据共享。尽管中美两国在新冠疫情方面都缺少透明度，两国政府在各个层面都有理由受到批评，但这些错误不应当继续让合作受到破坏。武汉疫情暴发几周后，中国科学家成功确定了病原，破解了基因序列，并与国际同行分享了有关新冠病毒的数据。中国研究人员在实验室研究和病毒检测方面取得的显著进展，主要得益于中美两国当年在非典时期的医疗合作。对于迎战新出现的变异病毒，以及确定候选疫苗的功效和安全性来说，透明度和数据共享仍然是至关重要的。鉴于新冠肺炎存在着诸多未知因素，华盛顿和北京应致力于加强公共卫生信息的共享。

4、建立一个全球性的变异病毒监视网。随着变异病毒在英国、南非、巴西等世界各地出现，美国和中国应协调建立一个最先进的全球性变异病毒监视网。该网络可改善对最新变异病毒的追踪、筛查和预警，同时也有助于各国政府更有效地引导公众注意力，并分配资源遏制变异病毒的传播。

6、提高全球疫苗生产能力。美国和中国是累计和日均接种疫苗数量最多的两个国家。在中国，到2月中旬预计将有约5000万人接种疫苗。而在美国，到2月14日，接种的疫苗已经超过5000万剂。但从人口上说，只有3.5%的中国人和11.2%的美国人接种了至少一剂疫苗。人们普遍担心，疫苗生产能力的不足将成为实现群体免疫的主要瓶颈，即使到2021年底也无法解决。中国人还担心“免疫缺口”可能产生的影响，因为在中国，接触过病毒的人口比率还没有达到其他国家的水平。所有这些因素都要求这两个主要疫苗生产国更好地协调，以提高生产能力，并确定应该向全球哪个地区优先提供疫苗。5、在疫苗开发方面开展互利竞争。世界需要安全、有效、有统一标准的疫苗。美国和中国是世界上为数不多有疫苗生产厂的国家，两国应积极竞争，共同推动建设有效的疫苗平台，预防不良反应。截至2月初，有66种候选疫苗——包括中国的16种——已经进行了临床试验，其中10种已被批准至少在一个国家使用。中国研究人员和疫苗制造商正在研制另外约40种候选疫苗。作为多个有效疫苗平台的东道国，中美两国应该开展正和竞争，而不是零和博弈。

7、加强疫苗国际分配的公平性。美国和中国必须加大对国际社会努力协调在全球公平分配疫苗的支持，尤其是要通过“获取新冠工具加速计划”和“新冠疫苗实施计划(COVAX)”来进行。在对外援助方面，中美两国具有互补优势和能力，双方的合作可以促成并扩展至多边倡议。美国已经承诺为COVAX提供40亿美元。通过美国疾病控制与预防中心、美国国际开发署和其他机构，美国已经拥有一个广泛的全球卫生项目网络，而且它有为发展中国家提供医疗和公共卫生支持的传统。中国则有强大的生产和物流能力，且已向发展中国家运送了大量疫苗。

8、在药物开发方面进行合作。尽管疫苗开发占据了全球抗击新冠肺炎努力的中心位置，但研究治疗药物的重要性不应被忽视。中美两国政府都应鼓励医学专家和科学家分享经验，包括得到的教训、发现的有效对策、取得的最佳实践。两国以及国际社会都可以从集中资源和分享思路中获益，对于潜在的抗新冠病毒鸡尾酒疗法(就像用于艾滋病的疗法)来说就更是如此。

9、协调跨境旅行和新的国际协议。疫苗、治疗药物和医疗用品需要跨境并迅速通关。由于限制流动对于公众健康来说是必要的，美国和中国作为全球旅行人口最多的两个国家，需要考虑为跨太平洋旅行制定疫苗证书协议、通用的健康指标和安全机制。更广泛地说，它们必须为数字疫苗证书、健康指标、检疫标准和安全机制在全球的开发做贡献，使接种疫苗的人群能恢复国际旅行和贸易。

10、建立面向未来的信心和能力。就像美国和苏联在冷战高峰期合作根除天花一样，今天华盛顿和北京的共同努力将向两国和全世界人民发出鼓舞人心的信号，即合作对于拯救生命的重要。尽管两国都在应付双边关系其他领域的困难，但在新冠疫情上的合作有助于为解决其他全球公共利益问题奠定基础，包括应对气候变化和核不扩散。新冠肺炎不会是最后一场大流行，也不会是最后一场全球危机，美国和中国可以利用这个机会建立应对其他挑战的信心和能力。

眼下，美国总统乔·拜登和中国国家主席习近平有机会通过有效应对下一阶段疫情，来提高其政府在国内外的声誉。但要有效做到这一点，两位领导人必须愿意着眼于未来，而不是停留在过去，把握紧的拳头对准新冠肺炎，而不是对准彼此。

If the history of the COVID-19 pandemic were written today, the narrative would not be dominated by the global common cause that has characterized past pandemics, but rather by handwringing and finger pointing.

Nothing encapsulates this storyline more than the absence of governmental cooperation between China, which was first struck by the virus outbreak, and the United States, which has suffered the most infections and greatest death toll. Both countries have engaged in a blame game, fought propaganda wars, and promoted conspiracy theories.

As the pandemic enters its second year with new variants emerging around the world, there is still time to alter the narrative. The urgent task of bringing the pandemic under control can only be accomplished through global coordination, which requires the active engagement of the two largest economies in the world. Here are ten reasons that the U.S. and China must cooperate now to stop the pandemic.

1. Resume the tradition of public health cooperation.The U.S. and Chinese governments have a long history of collaborating to combat virtually every global health crisis of the past half century, including HIV/AIDS, SARS, H5N1 influenza or “avian flu”, H1N1 influenza, H7N9 influenza, and Ebola. The official response to COVID-19 thus far, regrettably, stands out as an exception. The severity and unpredictability of the pandemic requires a return to the historical precedent of collaboration.

2. Retain strong ties within the medical community. Despite the political barriers undermining governmental cooperation, medical experts and scientists on both sides of the Pacific have preserved extensive and dynamic communication and collaboration throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Experts in the U.S. and China have cooperated on coronavirus research more with each other than with any other country—including on over 100 articles in leading journals—leading to more collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic than over the previous five years combined. Top virologists and other medical experts have also participated in joint webinars focused on preventing and treating the virus.

3. Improve transparency and data sharing.While the lack of transparency regarding the outbreak of COVID-19 in both China and the U.S. warrants criticism of both governments at various levels, these mistakes should not continue to derail collaboration. Within a few weeks after the outbreak in Wuhan, Chinese scientists successfully determined the pathogen, deciphered the gene sequence, and shared data regarding the new coronavirus with international colleagues. Chinese researchers have made remarkable progress in lab research and virus detection, resulting largely from U.S.-China medical cooperation dating back to SARS.  Transparency and data sharing remain imperative to fighting emerging variants and determining the efficacy and safety of vaccine candidates. Given the many unknowns about COVID-19. Washington and Beijing should commit to enhanced sharing of public health information.

4. Establish a global surveillance network for variants.As variants emerge around the world, including in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil, the U.S. and China should coordinate to build a cutting-edge global surveillance network of variants. This network could improve the tracing, screening, and warning of new variants while also helping authorities more efficiently direct public attention and allocate resources to containing them.

5. Develop mutually beneficial competition on vaccine development. The world needs safe, effective, and universal vaccines. As two of the few countries with manufacturers that have produced vaccines, the U.S. and China should engage in positive competition and work together to promote effective vaccine platforms and prevent adverse reactions. By early February, 66 vaccine candidates—including 16 in China—have undergone clinical trials, of which 10 have been approved for use in at least  one country. Chinese researchers and vaccine manufacturers are working on about 40 additional vaccine candidates. As the host countries of multiple effective vaccine platforms, the U.S. and China should engage in positive-sum competition rather than in a zero-sum game.

6. Increase vaccine manufacturing capacity for the world.The U.S. and China are the top two countries for cumulative and average daily number of vaccines administered. In China, about 50 million people are expected to be vaccinated by mid-February, and in the U.S., over 50 million doses have been administered by February 14. But in terms of population, only 3.5 percent of the Chinese population and 11.2 percent of the American population have received at least one vaccine dose. There are widespread concerns that inadequate vaccine manufacturing capacity will create a major bottleneck to achieving herd immunity, even by the end of 2021. The Chinese are also anxious about the possible effect of an “immunity gap,” given that China’s population has not been exposed to the virus at rates comparable to other countries. All of these factors require that the two leading vaccine manufacturing countries better coordinate to enhance production capacity and prioritize the global regions to which doses should be directed.

7. Enhance equitable international distribution of vaccines.The U.S. and China must ramp up their support for the international community’s efforts to coordinate equitable global vaccine distribution, particularly through the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, and COVAX. When it comes to foreign aid, the U.S. and China have complementary strengths and capacities, and U.S.-China collaboration can contribute and extend to multilateral initiatives. The U.S., which has already committed $4 billion to COVAX, has an extensive network of global health programs—through the CDC, USAID, and other agencies—with a legacy of providing medical and public health support to the developing world. China has a strong capacity for manufacturing and logistics and has already shipped a significant number of vaccine doses to developing countries.

8. Collaborate on drug development. While vaccine development has taken center stage in global efforts to combat COVID-19. the importance of research on therapeutic drugs should not be overlooked. Both the U.S. and Chinese governments should encourage medical experts and scientists to share experiences––lessons learned, effective responses found, and best practices achieved. Both countries––and the international community––can benefit from pooling resources and sharing ideas, especially for potential antiviral cocktail therapies (like that used for HIV) for COVID-19.

9. Coordinate on cross-border travel and new international protocols.Vaccines, therapeutic drugs, and medical supplies need to cross borders and clear customs quickly. As restrictions on movement are necessary for public health, the U.S. and China—home to the two largest populations of global travelers—need to consider developing vaccine-certificate protocols, common health metrics, and safety mechanisms for cross-Pacific travel. More broadly, they must contribute to the global development of digital vaccine certificates, health metrics, quarantine standards, and safety mechanisms to enable vaccinated populations to revive international travel and trade.

10. Build confidence and capacity for the future.Much like the Americans and Soviets collaborated on eradicating smallpox at the height of the Cold War, joint efforts by Washington and Beijing today will send inspiring signals to people in both countries and around the world about the importance of collaborating to save lives. Even as both countries manage difficulties in other areas of the bilateral relationship, collaborating on COVID-19 can help set the stage for addressing other issues of global public good, including climate change and nuclear nonproliferation. COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic nor the last global crisis, and the U.S. and China can use this opportunity to build confidence and capacity for addressing other challenges.

Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping now have an opportunity to improve the reputations of their governments both domestically and abroad by effectively addressing the next phase of the pandemic. But to do so effectively, both leaders must be willing to focus on the future instead of dwelling in the past, directing clenched fists at COVID-19 instead of at each other.