China's assertiveness and its confidence has been on full display throughout the pandemic, despite questions about its early handling of the disease. Last night at the World Health Assembly, President Xi Jinping, offered billions in new spending, backing a plan for a coronavirus investigation, but only after the pandemic's over.
It's a neat follow from what's been branded China's facemask diplomacy, spreading health equipment largesse across the world, though often with a price attached.
This assertiveness, some observers say, is made all the more possible because America is invisible in this crisis, but for its terrible COVID-19 chaos at home.
Anne Applebaum is a journalist and historian, she's a staff writer for the US publication The Atlantic and author of the forthcoming book, The Twilight of Democracy.