Vision of community with shared future for mankind vital amid crisis, experts say
As the novel coronavirus pandemic has run rampant globally, President Xi Jinping's unremitting call for solidarity and cooperation to stem the spread of the contagion has greater relevance to coping with the common threat the world is facing, officials and experts said.
The unprecedented global public health crisis caused by COVID-19, which is a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness and vulnerability of humanity, has made Xi's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind more significant and urgent, they said.
An article by Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, on global solidarity and cooperation to combat the COVID-19 pandemic was published on Thursday in the Qiushi Journal, the flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee.
Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapon against the disease, the article said.
As the outbreak is spreading worldwide, posing an enormous threat to life and health and bringing a formidable challenge to global public health security, the article said, it is imperative for the international community to strengthen confidence, act in unity and work together in a collective way.
Viruses respect no borders, and epidemics do not distinguish between races, it went on, adding that this global public health emergency has driven home the urgency and imperative need to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
Xi's article came as confirmed cases of COVID-19 have exceeded 2 million worldwide, with the death toll surpassing 130,000.
China has brought the domestic outbreak under control through massive, nationwide efforts and enormous sacrifices, but it still faces risks from imported cases of infections.
Since the onset of the outbreak, Xi has engaged in intensive discussions with more than 30 world leaders through meetings, telephone conversations and correspondence to promote international cooperation on combating the virus, as he stressed on various occasions that the virus can only be defeated when the international community fights in unity.
"Through these interactions, Xi demonstrated China's firm and sincere commitment to solidarity with the whole world, boosted global confidence, and led the way for international cooperation against the outbreak," State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an article also published in the Qiushi Journal on Thursday.
China upholds the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi's article said, noting that the Chinese government has acted in an open, transparent and responsible manner.
China released information on the epidemic to the World Health Organization and relevant countries and regions soon after the novel coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, Hubei province, in January. It speedily identified the genome sequence of the virus and shared it, and it provided timely updates on the outbreak to the organization and relevant countries and regions.
While working closely with the WHO, it contributed $20 million to the United Nations body to help it coordinate efforts in the fight against the pandemic.
Wang said that enhancing international cooperation in fighting COVID-19 is a telling testament to China's role as a responsible major country and its commitment to building a community with a shared future for mankind.
At the most difficult moment in its COVID-19 fight, China received assistance and help from a lot of members of the international community, and now China has also been supporting the global COVID-19 fight to the best of its ability.
China has sent 14 medical expert teams to 12 countries－including Iran, Iraq, Italy, Serbia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Venezuela and Russia－and Chinese medical experts had over 80 videoconferences with their counterparts from 153 countries on how to effectively tackle and defeat the virus.
Although fighting the virus remains a formidable task, China has provided medical supplies to over 140 countries and international organizations and also facilitated countries' purchases of urgently needed anti-epidemic materials from China.
Efem N. Ubi, a senior research fellow and head of the division of International Economic Relations at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos, said that for China, giving aid is an obligation and synonymous with its culture and development, in line with its principles of a harmonious world society and Xi's vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
"Irrespective of how the virus came into being, there is no time on this earth that we need more concerted efforts and cooperation than this particular moment," the Nigerian researcher said in an article published on the website of the China Global Television Network.
At the Extraordinary G20 Leaders' Summit on COVID-19 on March 26, Xi called for an all-out global war against the outbreak, forging a collective response of control and treatment, supporting international organizations in playing active roles and strengthening macroeconomic policy coordination.
Xi's initiatives
Xi also highlighted many areas of practical cooperation, such as vaccine and therapeutics development, opening up access to an online COVID-19 knowledge center, promoting comprehensive, systematic and effective control and treatment protocols, launching a G20 COVID-19 assistance initiative, jointly ensuring the stability of global industrial and supply chains, and convening a high-level meeting on global public health security.
"These initiatives showed the direction for the international efforts to tackle the outbreak. They have been highly commended by the international community," Wang said.
Former vice-foreign minister He Yafei, who is now a senior researcher at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, said it is important that major countries coordinate their efforts in epidemic control while assistance to less developed countries needs to be intensified.
In the fight against the pandemic, the WHO must be supported to let it play a bigger role in coordinating the emergency response, He said.
Finance officials from the G20 countries agreed on Wednesday at a videoconference to suspend debt service payments by the world's poorest countries starting from May through the end of the year.
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said at a news conference on the same day that more than 100 countries have asked the multilateral lender for emergency financing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The reality is that anyone's fight against the virus is everyone's fight. More than ever, we need global solidarity, a common resolve, and coordinated international efforts," Georgieva said.
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记者：曹德胜
【背景阅读】
《求是》杂志发表习近平总书记重要文章《团结合作是国际社会战胜疫情最有力武器》
新华社北京4月15日电 4月16日出版的第8期《求是》杂志将发表中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席习近平的重要文章《团结合作是国际社会战胜疫情最有力武器》。
文章强调，人类是一个命运共同体。战胜关乎各国人民安危的疫病，团结合作是最有力的武器。当前，新冠肺炎疫情正在全球蔓延，给人民生命安全和身体健康带来巨大威胁，给全球公共卫生安全带来巨大挑战。国际社会最需要的是坚定信心、齐心协力、团结应对，全面加强国际合作，携手赢得这场人类同重大传染性疾病的斗争。只要我们同舟共济、守望相助，就一定能够彻底战胜疫情，迎来人类发展更加美好的明天!
文章指出，病毒没有国界，疫情不分种族。任何国家都不能置身其外，独善其身。全人类只有共同努力，才能战而胜之。在经济全球化时代，这样的重大突发事件不会是最后一次，各种传统安全和非传统安全问题还会不断带来新的考验。在应对这场全球公共卫生危机的过程中，构建人类命运共同体的迫切性和重要性更加凸显。唯有团结协作、携手应对，国际社会才能战胜疫情，维护人类共同家园。
文章指出，中国秉持人类命运共同体理念，中国政府始终本着公开、透明、负责任态度，及时向世界卫生组织以及有关国家和地区通报疫情信息，第一时间发布病毒基因序列等信息，毫无保留同世卫组织和国际社会分享防控、治疗经验，积极开展抗疫国际合作，携手应对共同威胁和挑战，坚决维护中国人民生命安全和身体健康，坚决维护世界各国人民生命安全和身体健康。
文章指出，患难见真情，中方赞赏国际社会给予我们的宝贵理解和支持。在中方最困难的时候，国际社会许多成员给予中方真诚帮助和支持，我们会始终铭记并珍视这份友谊。中华民族是懂得感恩、投桃报李的民族，中方始终在力所能及范围内为国际社会抗疫提供支持，共同维护全球公共卫生安全。
文章指出，公共卫生安全是人类面临的共同挑战，重大传染性疾病是全人类的敌人，需要各国携手应对，全面加强国际合作，凝聚起战胜疫情的强大合力。中方愿同世界卫生组织和国际社会一道，共同维护好地区和全球的公共卫生安全。第一，坚决打好新冠肺炎疫情防控全球阻击战；第二，有效开展国际联防联控；第三，积极支持国际组织发挥作用；第四，加强国际宏观经济政策协调。
文章指出，中国及时采取果断有力措施，为抗击疫情付出了巨大牺牲。中国人民在疫情防控中展现的中国力量、中国精神、中国效率，中国展现的负责任大国形象，得到国际社会高度赞誉。国际社会普遍认为，中国在全面有力防控疫情的同时，积极主动同世卫组织和国际社会开展合作和信息交流，迅速分享部分毒株全基因组序列，研制成功快速检测试剂盒，不仅是在对中国人民生命安全和身体健康负责，也是在为世界公共卫生事业作贡献。（来源：新华社）
转自：学习强国