Unification over opposition

Amid the grim situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on March 19 that “more than ever before, we need solidarity, hope and coordinated global response to see this crisis through together”. However, some politicians attempted to politicize the novel coronavirus, damaging international solidarity.
在新冠肺炎疫情的严峻形势下，联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯于3月19日表示：“我们比以往任何时候都需要团结、希望以及协调一致的全球响应，来共度难关”。然而，仍有一些政客试图将新型冠状病毒政治化，破坏国际团结。

On March 19, a picture shot by The Washington Post showed that, on the US President Donald Trump’s notes for a White House media briefing, someone crossed out the word “corona” in “coronavirus” and replaced it with “Chinese”. A day earlier, Trump also purposefully called the virus a “Chinese virus” in the briefing.
3月19日，《华盛顿邮报》所拍摄的一张照片中显示，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在一场白宫新闻发布会上的讲话稿上，有人将“coronavirus”（冠状病毒）的“corona”（冠状）一词划掉，改成了“Chinese”（中国的）。一天前，特朗普也在那场发布会上故意将病毒称为“中国病毒”。

Before this, noted Sky News, he’d been calling it the coronavirus – so why the shift?
英国天空新闻台指出，此前，特朗普一直称其为冠状病毒，那么为什么他又改口了呢？

According to CNN, Trump repeatedly called COVID-19 a “Chinese virus” in speeches and tweets, which showed his attempt to mislead the public understanding.
据美国有线电视新闻网报道，特朗普在讲话和推文中多次将新型冠状病毒称为“中国病毒”，企图误导公众。

By March 24, the number of US cases had surpassed 42,000, more than a 10-fold increase from a week earlier, according to the World Health Organization. The US has held the second largest cases of COVID-19 behind that of Italy, outside of the Chinese mainland.
世界卫生组织数据显示，截至3月24日，美国新冠肺炎确诊病例超过42000例，和一周前相比，病例数猛翻10多倍。美国成为了中国以外新冠肺炎确诊病例数第二多的国家，仅次于意大利。

Trump tried to avoid taking the blame for his own administration’s struggles to deal with the virus, according to CNN. Being incapable of putting the outbreak “under control”, Trump knew it could cause a recession and “if millions of Americans die, it will be on his watch ... Calling it the ‘Chinese virus’ is a way of deflecting blame,” commented Sky News. On March 23, Trump dropped his use of the term “Chinese virus” under increasing criticism, CNN reported.
美国有线电视新闻网表示，特朗普试图为其政府应对病毒的不作为开脱。无法“控制”疫情的特朗普明白这会导致经济衰退，“如果有数百万美国人死亡，那便是他任期内的责任 …… 称病毒为‘中国病毒’便是他推脱责任的方式之一，“天空新闻台评论道。据美国有线电视新闻网报道，3月23日，面对越来越多的批评声，特朗普表示不再使用“中国病毒”的表述。

Many have expressed opposition to such stigmatization of China.
许多人都反对如此污名化中国。

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that “China strongly opposes labeling the virus with the name of a country as it is immoral and unfair”. Such a move will divide the international community, Wang said, adding that it does not enhance efforts to unite countries in the battle against the spread of the pandemic, nor will it contribute to the disease prevention and control efforts in the US.
国务委员兼外长王毅表示，“中方坚决反对一切将疫情污名化和针对特定国家的行径，因为这既不道德，也不公平”。王毅指出，这不仅不利于国际社会有效开展防疫合作，也不利于各国集中精力处理好本国的疫情。

Indeed, when the World Health Organization (WHO) named the pneumonia COVID-19 in early February, the organization was very cautious to avoid stigmatizing a country or particular group.
的确，当世界卫生组织二月初宣布新型冠状病毒所引发疾病的英文名为“COVID-19”时，世卫组织相当谨慎，避免污名化某个国家或者特定群体。

On March 20, the Foreign Ministry reiterated that China believes that the origin of the virus is a matter of science which requires a professional and science-based assessment.
3月20日，外交部重申，中方认为新型冠状病毒源头问题是一个科学问题，需要听取科学、专业的意见。

As Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said, “In this global fight against the coronavirus, everyone needs to respect facts, respect science, respect others and, above all, respect oneself, because where science cannot arrive for the time being, humanity will.”
正如外交部发言人耿爽所言：“在这场国际社会与新冠病毒的斗争中，请尊重事实、尊重科学、尊重他人。最重要的，要尊重自己。即使科学暂时无法到达的地方，文明还会到达。”

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高二786期