Beijing: Chinese leader Xi Jinping praised Tuesday his country’s role in battling the coronavirus pandemic. Xi Jinping also expressed support for the World Health Organisation (WHO), in a repudiation of US criticism.
Xi told a televised assembly at the Great Hall of the People here that China’s battle against COVID-19 demonstrated the strengths of its socialist system. He also harped on traditional Chinese culture in stirring motivation, building consensus and pooling resources.
“We are willing to do whatever it takes to protect people’s lives!” Xi told participants. Most of the participants wore masks and exercised social distancing.
The coronavirus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan late last year. The US and others have alleged the outbreak spread out of control because China withheld information about it. China has said it acted swiftly and responsibly. However, the country has rejected calls for an independent investigation into its handling of the emergency.
China has also been a key supporter of the WHO. There have been accusations, mainly from the US, that WHO is too ‘China-centric’ in its orientation. Washington is in the process of withdrawing from the UN health agency, to which it still owes back dues.
Xi said China would continue to support the WHO in playing a ‘leading role in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic’. “All selfishness, scapegoating and confusing right and wrong will not only hurt a country and its people. The harm can spread to people of all countries,” Xi asserted.
China itself had ‘helped save a great number of lives from COVID-19 around the world with concrete actions’, Xi said. He referred to the export of 209,000 ventilators, 1.4 billion protective suits and 151.5 billion masks. China also sent medical staff to assist a handful of countries.
During the meeting, Xi also conferred the ‘Medal of the Republic’ on famed respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan. The ‘Medal of the Republic’ is China’s highest civilian award. Nanshan was honoured for his work in battling both COVID-19 and SARS.
China has not reported any COVID-19 illnesses from local transmission in more than three weeks. All of the new cases detected in that time were among travellers from abroad. China has reported a total of 4,634 deaths from 85,144 cases of COVID-19.
