Ambassador Hong Xiaoyong has a signed article "China stands ready with the world to fight the epidemic" published in The Straits Times

2020-03-18 15:00

On 18 March 2020, H.E. Mr. Hong Xiaoyong, Chinese Ambassador to Singapore, has a signed article published in The Straits Times titled "China stands ready with the world to fight the epidemic". The full text is as follows:

Since January, the international community has been paying close attention to the coronavirus outbreak. Among the many reports and articles, some support and recognise China's effort, while others doubt and smear. With the virus spreading worldwide, how to win the battle and restore normal social and economic life are now major concerns for all of us.

I would like to share with readers some information on China's situation.

Thanks to the Chinese people's arduous efforts, the situation is improving significantly. Zero new confirmed cases have been found in the daily reports of most provinces. In Wuhan, the worst-hit city, the number of new confirmed cases has dropped to double digits and even single digits for several consecutive days.

All 16 temporary hospitals in Wuhan have closed with their missions accomplished. Within less than two months, the epidemic in China has been brought under control. In a country with a huge population of 1.4 billion, these are not acts of miracle, but feats that could not have been achieved without the following factors.

First, strong leadership. General Secretary Xi Jinping, the core of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has always made the safety of the people his top priority. He has been in full command and has led the battle against the epidemic since its outbreak. During the Spring Festival, the committee adopted an all-of-government and all-of-society approach to mobilise a nationwide response.

General Secretary Xi chaired six meetings of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee within a month to direct and organise an unprecedented nation's campaign against the virus. He also visited the anti-epidemic front line in Beijing and Wuhan. His great leadership strongly boosted the confidence and determination of the whole nation to overcome the epidemic.

The second factor is institutional strength. The Chinese government came up with a slogan that if Wuhan wins, Hubei wins, and if Hubei wins, China wins.

Hubei and its provincial capital Wuhan, the hardest-hit areas in China, received full-scale support from across the country within a few days of the outbreak. More than 330 medical teams comprising some 41,600 medical workers were quickly dispatched to Hubei. Sixteen makeshift hospitals and two specialised ones were built, raising the number of hospital beds in Wuhan to 23,000 from 5,000.

Nineteen provinces paired with the cities in Hubei to provide one-on-one support. Nearly 30 billion yuan (S$6 billion) and more than 500 million pieces of medical and other supplies were donated to Hubei from the rest of China. As a result, the initial acute lack of medical personnel and supplies in the area has been effectively alleviated.

The efforts to leave no patients unattended have paid off as the number of new confirmed cases and fatalities in Wuhan has fallen dramatically. Meanwhile, the comprehensive nationwide measures to contain the epidemic in all provinces have also yielded sound results, with no new confirmed cases in the community reported for days and, in some places, for weeks.

Third, the perseverance and devotion of the Chinese people. The Spring Festival this year is unforgettable. In what has traditionally been a happy time for family reunions and other gatherings, the Chinese people, in response to the government's call, stayed indoors, sacrificing their normal lives in order to contain the spread of the virus.

People in Wuhan, in particular, have borne the biggest burden and paid the biggest price. In order to minimise the transmission of the virus, they have stayed at home for nearly 60 days since the eve of the Chinese New Year while social order and stability remain well maintained. Efforts made in containing the spread of the virus have contributed greatly to the government's ability to render treatment to patients. It may be difficult for outsiders to imagine what hardship they have gone through. As General Secretary Xi pointed out during his inspection in Wuhan, the people of Wuhan are heroes and must go down in history for their part in the battle against the outbreak.

Civil servants, front-line workers and volunteers have endeavoured to provide daily life support and assistance for people staying at home. Medical staff have taken on the most arduous missions. Some of them got infected, and some even lost their lives.

Ms She Sha, a 24-year-old nurse who volunteered to be deployed in Wuhan, touched many with her reason for doing so: "I am young, single and from Wenchuan." "I'm from Wenchuan" - a simple phrase but one that speaks volumes of the sense of empathy and generosity that comes from a shared experience in disaster. Wenchuan in Sichuan province was the epicentre of the huge 2008 earthquake that left more than 87,000 people dead.

Ms Li Hui, a Generation Z nurse, joined the battle in Wuhan without her parents' knowledge and said she would donate her body to research should the worst happen. The outbreak of the epidemic in China has been effectively controlled in less than two months, behind which are countless ordinary but great stories.

Restoring the normal order of life and economic development is another priority of the government. As the overall situation continues to improve, different regions across the country are implementing different strategies to ensure orderly resumption of economic activities and social life. Low-risk areas have fully recovered and medium-risk areas are gradually going back to normal.

So far, nearly 100 million migrant workers have made trans-provincial travel to return to their jobs. Thanks to adherence to proper prevention and control measures, the feared transmission of disease during travel did not materialise.

While the number of people returning to work across the country has skyrocketed, the number of new confirmed cases has plummeted. Manufacturing capacity has been largely restored in many industries. For example, the daily production of urgently needed masks now exceeds 100 million.

The impact of the Covid-19 epidemic on the Chinese economy is temporary and limited. The fundamentals sustaining sound economic growth remain unchanged, as do the factors underpinning high-quality development. With the Chinese government mobilising all resources and adopting a variety of measures, this year's economic growth targets and the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects remain unchanged.

China will continue to embrace the world with open arms and strengthen international economic exchanges and cooperation. We are very pleased to see that Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry recently held video conferences with Chongqing and Suzhou to share views on promoting planned connectivity projects and expanding cooperation in various areas while combating the virus. The epidemic did not stop China-Singapore cooperation.

The Chinese government also attaches great importance to international cooperation. Since the outbreak, China has strengthened communication and coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the international community, shared the genetic sequences of the coronavirus in a timely manner and notified relevant parties of ongoing developments related to the epidemic.

Recently, China dispatched teams of medical experts to Iran, Iraq and Italy, and held video conferences with health experts from many international organisations and countries. China also shared technical documents, including epidemic prevention and control measures, as well as diagnosis and treatment plans, with more than 100 countries around the world and over 10 international and regional organisations.

In addition, the Chinese government has donated US$20 million (S$28 million) to the WHO and provided masks, medicine, protective suits and other supplies to countries fighting serious outbreaks. China will continue to provide support to the countries in need while battling the epidemic domestically.

The virus is the enemy to humankind, but it is by no means invincible. In response to transnational crises like Covid-19, what the world needs is trust and unity, not blaming or finger-pointing. The virus respects no borders, and no country can stay immune. This has once again highlighted that humankind is a community with a shared future. Only hand in hand can the world win the battle.