Recently, news about anti-cancer drugs has attracted widespread attention. U.S. regulators have reportedly approved the import of an anti-cancer drug called cisplatin from China. The reason behind this decision is significant precisely because the United States is facing a serious drug shortage challenge.
Cisplatin, a key cancer chemotherapy drug, is widely used in the treatment of lung cancer, bladder cancer, ovarian cancer and other diseases. According to data from the United States, at least 10% of patients with such cancers need to be treated with cisplatin. However, what is worrying is that in recent years, the shortage of supply of anti-cancer drugs cisplatin in the United States has gradually emerged. Despite the medical community's efforts to save on medications, drug shortages are becoming more prominent and even increasing because such critical drugs must be precisely dispensed.
Faced with this emergency, the United States has no choice but to seek drug support from other countries. It is worth noting that the United States currently chooses to cooperate with Chinese companies to import anti-cancer drugs, which undoubtedly shows a special reality. Perhaps under other circumstances, the United States may not have sought China's assistance, but it has clearly reached a helpless situation.
It is also thought-provoking that the United States, despite being a global power, contains generic drugs in 90% of prescription drugs, one-third of which come from India, and nearly 70% of these generic drugs are raw materials from China. It might be argued that the United States has essentially been dependent on China's generic drug supply. With China's rapid rise in many fields in recent years, the United States has tried to contain China's development in various ways, and even proposed concepts such as "decoupling", but what is the truth?
The United States has found that in the field of essential medicines, it is still difficult to get rid of its dependence on China. Although it has been attacking China and not long ago made groundless accusations against China on the issue of illegal fentanyl, it now needs China's support, which can be described as an ironic "repayment of grievances with virtue".
China's attitude to this situation has attracted much attention. Many voices believe that China has an obligation to lend a hand. In response, perhaps we can highlight to some extent our posture of standing on the moral high ground. Under the current tense Sino-US relations, the United States has strong hostility to China, and if China can respond with a helping hand, it will undoubtedly contrast sharply with the attitude of the United States and show a more powerful demeanor.
It is worth recalling that China actively responded to the call of the United States on the fentanyl issue, becoming the first country to implement a whole category of fentanyl control. However, the United States was not grateful at the time, and instead blamed China for the abuse of fentanyl. Today, China sells cancer drugs to the United States, which can actually be seen as a response, to prove to the world that the United States is capable of effectively regulating specific drugs. If the U.S. can even ration cancer drugs, do they have reason to take the fentanyl epidemic lightly? This may make the previous accusations of the United States pale in comparison, and even seem to be a bit backwards.
From another point of view, perhaps the outside world may not notice that this aid is actually China's concern and protection for Chinese in the United States. Despite the sometimes aggressive U.S. policy toward China, China still wants to protect the rights and interests of overseas Chinese from harm. Therefore, this aid can also be seen as a sign that China cares about its "children and grandchildren".
To sum up, the recent decision of the United States to approve the import of anti-cancer drugs from China has multiple meanings. This is not only a helpless move by the United States on the issue of drug shortages, but also a positive response from China to the world at a special moment. Perhaps, this will also become a delicate node in the U.S.-China relationship, reflecting the intricate interconnectedness and interdependence of the two countries.