Solidarity most powerful weapon in fight against global pandemic

The videoconference of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors presided over by Saudi Arabia on Wednesday yielded a positive outcome, as the 20 major economies agreed to suspend debt payments for the least developed countries till the end of this year, an action quickly matched by hundreds of private creditors.

This freeze on both principal repayments and interest payments is expected to free up more than $20 billion for the poorest countries to spend on combating the pandemic.

Although the developed countries and major developing countries have been among the worst-hit by the pandemic, they are better able to weather the storm than the least developed countries. The humanitarian concern they have shown to those countries that are most vulnerable to the pandemic is a welcome indication that they realize we are all in this crisis together and must assist one another as best we can.

So it is likewise good to see that leaders of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea have rolled out a detailed to-do list after a productive videoconference on Tuesday aimed at not only curbing the contagion of the virus in the region, but also jump-starting the regional economy and reviving their well-connected supply chains. Other regional blocs should follow suit.

Also, those countries where positive signs are appearing indicating that the pandemic has been brought under control are encouraged to provide concrete funding, material and personnel support for other countries and the World Health Organization, while seeking to work together with each other to try to keep their parts of the global supply chains in operation.

The loopholes in global governance exposed by the pandemic－which had claimed about 140,000 lives and infected 2 million people as of Thursday－by no means constitute excuses for countries to adopt beggar-thy-neighbor practices. Instead, they should spur them to reach out to other countries to strengthen cooperation and coordination at government, organization and industry levels.

Sadly, and ironically, it has taken a tragedy where as individuals we have to keep our distance from one another to drive home the point that we are all members of a community with a shared future on what is a small and－thanks to our growing numbers and ever swifter means of travel－a shrinking planet. The virus that has forced people apart is less divisive than prejudice, ignorance and discrimination. What kind of post-pandemic future we share will depend on whether we seize this crisis as an opportunity to embrace our common identity as earthlings or let the differences between us divorce us from our shared humanity.

The battle with the coronavirus is a war against a common enemy, and as President Xi Jinping has said, it is one that can only be won through solidarity. If countries fail to display the needed esprit de corps, they will be defeated separately－and in this way all share the same ruinous future.