The idea of a joint declaration by the seven important industrialized countries on the corona crisis is on the brink , according to information from European diplomatic circles . The reason is a dispute over what the pandemic should be called.
Accordingly, the State Department insists on the name “Wuhan virus”. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo represents the line of his president. Donald Trump speaks mostly of the “Chinese virus” at press conferences and on Twitter.
The other G7 members reject a label that suggests the pandemic is a Chinese problem.
They propose the term “Covid-19” also used by the World Health Organization (WHO). No agreement could be reached in the negotiations of the political directors of the G7 foreign ministries.
This is ridiculous.
I don’t know if Pompeo has a larger agenda. They do seem to be looking for a confrontation with China out of this whole thing but it’s unclear exactly what they think they’ll get out of it. But first and foremost, this is being done to appease Little Lord Fauntleroy in the White House who constantly needs to be reassured that his juvenile, re-election “branding” is being carried out at the highest levels of government.
I guess it doesn’t matter if they can issue a joint statement. But you would think that international cooperation would be a top priority during a global pandemic. Apparently not.