A railway policeman checks a passenger's identity and travel information at Zhengzhou East Railway Station in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Feb. 1, 2020. Zhengzhou East Railway Station has recently strengthened its efforts to prevent and control the spread of novel coronavirus during the Spring Festival travel rush. (Xinhua/Li An)

While China marshals a collective effort to combat the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), some Western countries, led by the US, are seizing the opportunity to stir up trouble and attack China's system.

Although the US claims to be tolerant of diverse opinions, criticizing China is mainstream political discourse. Whenever something goes wrong in China, many US media outlets and politicians consistently attribute the problem to China's system. 

China is fighting the 2019-nCoV with confidence. However, some remarks emanating from the US are quite negative, a result of Washington's prejudice, double standards, and binary opposition mind-set.

Many countries, including the US, have experienced serious public health and climate issues. The US hasn't handled any of them flawlessly. For example, the US government's handling of Hurricane Katrina, a swine flu epidemic, drinking water contamination, and wildfires caused strong public dissatisfaction and raised concerns about the government's improper handling of these crises.

Some US politicians tend to interpret non-political issues with a political thinking. They are unaware that such problems require global efforts. Certain US accusations against China are morally indecent, which may negatively influence the world's efforts to jointly address the 2019-nCoV and other similar public health issues.

Attacking China's system clearly deviates from the general trend in which all countries around the world join hands to cope with public health issues. Such a move reflects that some US politicians lack a conscience and a spirit of self-reflection, especially so when considering the US itself has failed to properly handling similar problems.

While the 2019-nCoV remains so far unchecked, all countries and regions should coordinate and cooperate to cope with the challenges of bringing it under control. The US should pay more attention to exchanging experiences with China to avoid similar outbreaks, rather than politicizing the issue and placing blame. 

Tackling the 2019-nCoV requires a systematic approach, and internal and external efforts must be jointly made. China should first handle its internal affairs. In the course of dealing with the epidemic, despite some twists and turns, the country's general direction is very clear - to defeat the virus and restore public confidence. 

This crisis needs a national effort. Relevant policies and resources should be made and allocated step by step, leading to a sustainable and virtuous cycle. This is the fundamental direction we need to respond to outside doubt.

Meanwhile, we should also publicize our fruitful work in an effective way, and inject the international community with more confidence in China's actions. China should work with other countries and regions to cope with the 2019-nCoV and make timely and prompt counterattacks against forces with evil designs. In this way, the world will see which countries are really working on public health issues, and which have ulterior motives. 

This is also an efficient way to respond to some US politicians' groundless attacks against China, so that their accusations collapse onto themselves.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporters Li Qingqing and Yan Yunming based on an interview with Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations, China Foreign Affairs University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn