Virus response 'shows world Chinese vision'

Outbreak is a challenge to all requiring win-win solution, says ambassador

China's response to the COVID-19 disease outbreak can help the world understand the country's vision of building "a community with a shared future for mankind", China's top diplomat in the United Kingdom said at an event in London on Monday.

In a keynote speech on China's foreign policy delivered at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, commonly known as Chatham House, China's ambassador, Liu Xiaoming, said: "We have been open, transparent and responsible in tackling the virus because we believe in a community with a shared future for mankind."

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, China has engaged in international cooperation and shared information about the epidemic with all relevant parties in a timely manner, including sharing the genetic sequence of the virus and enhancing cooperation on vaccine development.

The Chinese people have stood united, Liu said, taking the most comprehensive, strict and thorough measures of disease prevention and control. "The whole nation has been mobilized and we are waging a 'people's war' against the virus," he added.

COVID-19 is posing a challenge for all, Liu said, so tackling it is also a responsibility for all. "Mankind has once again come to a crossroads where we must make choices and answer these questions－Do we want peace or war? Shall we move forward or backward? Is it better to engage in dialogue or confrontation?"

Liu called on all nations to "pull in the same direction" addressing challenges together "instead of undercutting each other", saying the world needs to invest in "win-win" cooperation rather than "indulging in the game of I win, you lose".

"Virus knows no borders, it is a common challenge facing all mankind. To safeguard global public health, countries must join hands and stand shoulder to shoulder," Liu said, adding "the ongoing battle against COVID-19 is a living proof of how much we belong to this community with a shared future for mankind and how urgently we all need to come together to build it."

China's measures to contain the virus outbreak have helped slow down the spread of the epidemic to other parts of the world, and the World Health Organization, or WHO, has on many occasions spoken highly of the country's counter-virus efforts, noting that China "is setting a new standard for outbreak response".

Liu went on to say that WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the steps China has taken appear to have bought the world time, even though those steps have come at great cost to China itself.

Recently, there have been concerns about the possible impact of the virus outbreak on China's economy. Liu stressed that any negative impact is short-term and temporary, because of the high resilience of China's economy. "Its' immune system' is robust, and the fundamentals that sustain longterm growth have not changed and will not change," he said.