Comment: The world has been let down by abysmal leadership

US president Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping could have shown real leadership over Covid-19, but both have failed miserably

Donald Trump, US president, and Xi Jinping, his Chinese counterpart: both have squandered the opportunity to become transformational leaders

Leadership – the ability to help people frame and achieve their goals – is absolutely crucial during a crisis. British prime minister Winston Churchill demonstrated this in 1940, as did Nelson Mandela during South Africa’s transition from apartheid.

By these historical standards, the leaders of the world’s two largest economies have failed abysmally. US president Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, both initially reacted to the coronavirus outbreak not by informing and educating ...