By Zhong Sheng
To win the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic calls for joint action of mankind. China’s State Council Information Office recently released a white paper titled “Fighting Covid-19: China in Action”, calling on all countries to act promptly, demonstrate solidarity, strengthen cooperation on all fronts, and fight the pandemic together.
China will always uphold the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind and shoulder its responsibility as a major country, to contribute Chinese strength and wisdom to the building of a global community of health for all and make unremitted efforts to forge a powerful synergy against the epidemic. China’s ideas, proposals and actions on the global battle have won wide respect and high recognition from the international society.
Upholding science and rationality, strengthening unity and cooperation, and promote multilateral coordination, China has fully demonstrated its sense of justice in the battle against the Covid-19 epidemic. In phone calls or meetings with foreign leaders and heads of international organizations, Chinese President Xi Jinping explained China’s tactics and achievements in fighting the virus, and emphasized China’s open, transparent and responsible approach towards releasing information and sharing its experience in virus control and the treatment of infected cases. He expressed empathy for the difficulties faced by other countries, saying that China would do all it can to help them. He called on all parties to build a global community of shared future, strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and support international organizations in order to work together to meet the challenge.
President Xi delivered a speech at the G20 Extraordinary Leaders’ Summit on Covid-19 on China’s experience. In a call on the international community to rise to the challenge and act swiftly, he put forward a series of cooperation initiatives and four key proposals – launch an all-out global war against Covid-19, establish a collective response for control and treatment at the international level, support international organizations in playing their roles, and strengthen coordination of international macroeconomic policies. He has injected important energy into promoting global anti-epidemic cooperation and boosting market confidence.
On May 18, he addressed the opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly. Raising a series of important initiatives on the height of building a global community of health for all and announcing a package of major measures to be rolled out by China to support the global battle, he fully demonstrated China’s sense of responsibility as a major country.
Bounkong Syhavong, Minister of Health of Laos remarked that by practicing the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind with concrete actions, China has showcased its cooperation spirit to jointly seek common welfare for mankind.
China has shared information and experience with the international community, provided humanitarian assistance to the international community, tried every possible means to provide support to all countries in purchasing protective materials, and carried out international exchanges and cooperation on scientific research. It has shared diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control solutions with over 180 countries and more than 10 international and regional organizations. As of May 31, China had sent 29 medical expert teams to 27 countries, and offered assistance to 150 countries and 4 international organizations. From March 1 to May 31, China exported protective materials to 200 countries and regions, among which there were more than 70.6 billion masks, 340 million protective suits.
The country has always acted responsibly when the world is in need of mutual assistance. A foreign dignitary commented that the huge efforts made by China to reinforce global pandemic response are obvious to all and have injected confidence and strength to other countries’ battle against the virus. Such evaluation reflected the high recognition of the international society on China’s contribution.
In this major public health crisis, we should not manufacture political disputes, seek isolation, pursue unilateralism, or destabilize the foundation for multilateralism. All countries must act responsibly to promote solidarity for the common interests of mankind. Unfortunately, some politicians in certain countries are paying no respect to facts and science, in an attempt to politicize the disease and stigmatize China. Indeed, they aim at diverting public attention and ducking responsibilities. It must be made clear that China is a victim of the virus, and also a contributor to the global fight against the virus. It shall be treated fairly rather than with accusations. China firmly opposes the slandering and rumors related with Covid-19, as it safeguards facts and acts with a keen sense of responsibility for lives, the world and history.
China calls on the international community to draw lessons from this pandemic, reflect carefully, and turn crises into opportunities. Countries should show extraordinary political vision and a strong sense of responsibility by doing the following: embracing a philosophy that puts life above everything else, regards the world as a whole, and stresses equality, mutual respect, cooperation and mutual assistance; establishing sound mechanisms for international cooperation, including a long-term financing mechanism, a monitoring, early warning and joint response mechanism for threats to public health, and a mechanism for reserving and allocating resources; creating an efficient and sustainable global public health system for all; fortifying defenses for the lives and health of all; and building a global community of health for all. It is universally recognized that China’s proposals will enable the world to learn lessons and remedy weaknesses, and minimize both the imminent and potential threats of the virus.
President Xi pointed out that mankind is a community with a shared future. Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons available for the international community to defeat the pandemic which concerns the safety of people in all countries. Preventing and controlling the spread of the virus has become a fight to safeguard global public health, to secure the wellbeing of humanity, to maintain world prosperity, and to enforce morality and conscience on the international community. It calls for the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, as well as cooperation and solidarity.
Facing the common enemy of mankind, countries should make practical actions, shoulder responsibilities and fight the virus. Solidarity means strength, the white paper stressed, and the world will win this battle.
(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy.)
Tag: China backs fair review of COVID-19
Countries should shoulder responsibilities, promote solidarity, cooperation to fight Covid-19
China backs fair review of COVID-19
Chen Qingqing and Cao Siqi
China supports the comprehensive review of the COVID-19 response, which should be conducted
in an objective and impartial manner, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday, May 18, at
the opening session of the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA).
The top Chinese leader’s comment was echoed by many scientists and medical experts across the
world, who have also rejected a misinterpretation of such review by some Western politicians and
media outlets as an independent inquiry to hold Beijing accountable for the outbreak, as part of
their efforts to politicize the pandemic of COVID-19.
The world is facing the most serious public health emergency since World War II, calling on the
international community to increase political and financial support for the World Health
Organization (WHO), which, Xi said, plays a vital role in leading the battle to save more lives. Xi
also said that with enormous sacrifice, China has turned the tide on the virus and protected
people’s lives. During this process, the country attached great importance to openness,
transparency and responsibility.
“China supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19 after it is
brought under control to sum up the experiences and address the deficiencies. This work should be
based on science and professionalism, led by WHO and conducted in an objective and impartial
manner,” Xi said.
More than 100 countries have reportedly joined a coalition to come up with a draft resolution
calling for support for all countries upon their request in implementing a multi-sector action plan
in strengthening their health systems against the COVID-19 pandemic, working collaboratively at
all levels to develop, and scale up effective and affordable diagnostics, therapeutics, medicine and
vaccines, showed the resolution.
The resolution also called on using existing mechanisms to review experience gained and lessons
learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19. However, such an
initiative has been misinterpreted by some Western politicians and media as a probe into China’s
initial handling of the outbreak, according to media reports
Bloomberg reported that China faces an angry world seeking virus answers, as the EU and
Australia are pushing forward the probe into the virus’ origin at the WHA in an article published
on Sunday. Some media like Channel NewsAsia reported last week that Beijing has suspended
imports of Australian beef as retaliation for Canberra’s push to probe the origins of the virus,
heating up tensions between the two countries.
Xi’s support for the review on the COVID-19, however, clarified the stance of the Chinese side,
which always supports open, transparent and scientific-based studies, given the country has
nothing to hide and to fear, as some Chinese officials and experts emphasized. The question about
the origin of the novel coronavirus and other relevant questions should be the task of scientists,
not politicians. As COVID-19 may have multiple birthplaces around the world, as some experts
have suggested, any thorough investigation should be conducted at the global level.
‘No sense of guilt’
As the majority of countries believe the pandemic has not reached its end, collaboration in fighting
the virus remains the top priority while it is still premature to launch an investigation and look into
the source of the virus, Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a routinepress conference on Monday, May 18, urging countries to respect the spirit of science and
cooperation in giving out constructive views on improving global public health system.
He also emphasized that such a resolution is different from a so-called independent inquiry, and
China has also taken part in negotiating the draft and agreed with the content.
“The adoption of any resolution was the result of the joint efforts of member states and should not
be interpreted unilaterally,” he said.
With regard to the assessment of the WHO response to the COVID-19 epidemic, the resolution
requested the WHO director-general to initiate, at the appropriate time and in consultation with
member states, a process of impartial, independent and comprehensive assessment to consider
lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated response to the epidemic and to make
recommendations for future work. This is also the usual practice of the WHO after major
pandemic, the spokesperson said.
Wang Guangfa, a leading Chinese respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital in
Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday that the investigation into the virus could be helpful to
study unknown viruses and prepare for a possible new epidemic.
“Compared to other countries, China has achieved great success in combating the epidemic and
Chinese efforts and lessons have been widely recognized by the international community,” Wang
said, noting that “we have no sense of guilt.”
Wang was part of the expert group dispatched by central authorities at the early stage of the
outbreak, who was also the first coronavirus-infected and cured expert.
Other Chinese experts and officials believe that Beijing has always been open to a fair and
science-based investigation of the virus, and what it rejects is turning such a probe into a political
playbook, causing disputes and escalating a war of words against China.
For instance, Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, said the investigation should not
be politically motivated when asked by Sky News in a recent interview on why an international
investigation should not be allowed. “We welcome an international independent review, but it has
to be organized by the WHO. It should be international,” Liu said, reiterating transparency and
openness.
However, there have been conspiracy theories and a disinformation campaign by Western
politicians and media against China since the outbreak, especially American hawks, by blaming
China for deliberately releasing the virus from a lab, constantly calling it the “Chinese virus” that
has sparked hatred and racist sentiment toward Asian Americans, elevating China’s “culpability”
for the epidemic.
“A rational and scientific investigation could focus on three main problems: When exactly did the
coronavirus first appear? What is the natural source? And how did the virus pass to humans?”
Wang said, pointing out that as mounting scientific evidence suggested COVID-19 may have
surfaced earlier than reported in countries beyond China, the investigation should be launched
across the world.
Joint responsibility
One of the major conspiracy theories frequently mentioned by some US media and politicians is
the virus was “a laboratory escape.” However, this contradicts the resolution to the WHO that the
majority of the member countries support.
The draft statement called for continuously working closely with UN-related authorities to identify
the zoonotic source of the virus as well as the route of introduction to the human population,including the possible role of intermediate hosts. Efforts should be carried out through scientific
and collaborative field missions.
The impartial investigation should also include widely recognized professionals and staff from
different countries, led by authority institutions, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of
International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. “It can’t
end up being a political investigation or smear campaign probe. That's not the duty of the WHO,"
he said.
Peter Forster, the first author of a research to map out the coronavirus’ path of infection, found out
that the earliest known strain of the virus, termed by the scientists as “Type A,” was detected in
the US and Australia.
Forster, a geneticist at the University of Cambridge, told the Global Times in an interview in April
that “in my view, anyone searching for the detailed origins of the virus needs to search more
broadly in China and East Asia.”
It has become a shared view by scientists to look into all the possibilities in order to learn more
about the coronavirus, and about the origins of the virus. Field studies should also be carried out in
countries and regions like the US and EU, analysts said.
“This is always a scientific question. The virus is different in different places across the world,
suggesting there might be multiple birthplaces that we should look into,” Yang Zhanqiu, deputy
director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, told the Global Times on
Monday.
Xi also told the WHA that China will provide $2 billion over two years to help with the COVID-
19 response, set up a global humanitarian response with the help of the UN, and makes a COVID-
19 vaccine a global public good. The country will also work with G20 members to support the
hardest-hit countries under the greatest strain of debt service, and continue helping regions like
Africa.
