An uneasy truce between Beijing and Washington

The New York Times reports (porous paywall):

For weeks, President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo forcefully used the controversial terms “Chinese virus” and “Wuhan virus” in public and said they intended to hold Beijing responsible for the crippling coronavirus pandemic.

Now, they have avoided using those phrases, and the administration is welcoming planeloads of medical equipment from China. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump was effusive in describing his relationship with President Xi Jinping of China, whom he spoke with last week…

As the pandemic spreads, relations between the United States and China have whipsawed wildly. Washington and Beijing were at each other’s throats for weeks over the outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China, and was initially covered up by Communist Party officials.

But in recent days, the two sides have settled on a tentative, uneasy truce. They have agreed to hold fire on public sniping over the virus and to look for ways to cooperate to slow the contagion.

Don’t expect this to last long. Yesterday’s report that U.S. intelligence warned the White House that China was faking its COVID-19 numbers is just one indicator of the hostility and mistrust that will dog Sino-American ties for years.

See also this Washington Post op-ed: The U.S.-China propaganda war is on hold, but not for long (porous paywall).