China maintains ‘Health Silk Road’, ensuring medical supplies at mass level

Now that it’s own battle is won, China wants to travel the Health Silk Road.

The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and has ushered in hopes of collaboration in the face of adversity. An open letter to the US people from 100 Chinese scholars was published in The Diplomat on April 2, calling for global solidarity and cooperation to defeat COVID-19, a common enemy of humanity. The scholars wrote that the effort to overcome both the virus and its impact will be nothing short of a long-term and arduous global war, and countries should be working together, not complaining, fingerpointing, and blaming one another.

China, like other countries affected, is a victim of the virus as is the USA, which is the leading economic world power. The group of 100 Chinese scholars representing diverse academic fields including philosophy, political science, economics, medicine, international relations, sociology, law, communication, military science, and technology chose to address the USA directly. The signatories to the letter also include a number of university professors from Wuhan. While their areas of expertise are diverse, as intellectuals, they appear to share a common desire to express their concerns about the well-being of all people in China, the USA, and every country on Earth.

Having heard critical voices politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic, they opine that while facing the most dangerous infectious disease in a century, bickering and criticism neither helps China, the USA, nor the world, to curb the spread of the virus. The academics sermonize that political wrangling does nothing to contribute to the healthy development of Sino-US relations, nor will it help the people of the world to rationally and accurately understand and cope with the massive threat posed by the pandemic.

The international community needs solidarity, cooperation, trust and science. These are our weapons to win the unprecedented “Battle of Moscow” against the virus. China stands ready to work with the world to further enhance bilateral and global coordination and facilitate the UN and WHO’s work to overcome the pandemic as soon as possible. Humankind will triumph through enhancing cooperation

The home truth the litterateurs make sink in is that the COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health crisis with a horrific scale not seen in generations; the effort to overcome both it and its impact will be nothing short of a long-term and arduous global war. They call upon two of the great countries on Earth, China and the USA to cooperate to bring a more positive outcome for all humankind.

It is auspicious that the erudite authors highlight that all countries must uphold solidarity and cooperation to achieve the final victory and protect the life and health of all people across the globe. They hope for and welcome more such rational, calm and positive voices at this moment, especially from the US side.

The learned scribes of the open letter hope that respecting science, cherishing life, and protecting people from harm should be everyone’s shared goals in the fight against COVID-19. They comment that the COVID-19 outbreak in China is now basically under control. Since the virus first emerged in early January, the Chinese people have made unimaginable efforts and sacrifices to achieve hard-won results. The authors express their gratitude for the support of the international community, including donations from American friends, during the most critical stage of the fight. They respect the epidemic containment programs and policies implemented by other countries according to their own national conditions, and are willing to share their experiences with other countries and provide all available assistance to them.

At this stage of the pandemic, the exact source and origin of COVID-19 remain undetermined, but these questions are unimportant and fingerpointing is demeaning and hurtful to everyone. They reiterate that they will respect the final determination of scientists. Like many other countries, China is a victim of the virus, but also a success story in overcoming it, and it is willing to work with people of other countries to stop the spread of the pandemic.

They sincerely hope to cooperate with the international community, including intellectuals and experts from the USA that aspire to a brighter future. They look forward to the time when doctrines of international cooperation once again flourish around the world, and call on all nations to work together in sincere cooperation to defeat this common enemy of humanity. Hopefully, the world will soon be able to celebrate the final victory over COVID-19!

COVID-19 has expedited China to launch The Health Silk Road, which will run in parallel to the multiple overland Silk Road corridors and the Maritime Silk Road. In a graphic demonstration of soft power, so far China has offered Covid-19-related equipment and medical help to no fewer than 89 nations– and counting.

That covers Africa (especially South Africa, Namibia and Kenya, with Alibaba in fact announcing it will send help to all African nations); Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Peru); the arc from East Asia to Southwest Asia; and Europe.

Key recipients in Europe include Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Serbia and Poland. But Italy, most of all, is a very special case. The bulk of the support is in the form of donations. Some is trade– like millions of masks sold to France (and the USA). Pakistan is one of the biggest recipients of China’s largesse under the “Health Silk Road”. Scores of flights are continuing to bring in much needed medical supplies from China to Pakistan. The supplies comprise surgical masks, body suits, ventilators, medical teams and even a field hospital. The “Health Silk Road” is not only flights from China to Karachi and Islamabad, but giant containers are reaching Pakistan via the KKH, a part of CPEC from Khunjerab. It may be noted Khunjerab Pass remains closed from October to April due to snow, but it was specially opened to let the medical supplies to Pakistan through.

The Chinese government also donated 25.5 tons of supplies to Russia including surgical masks and protective suits, which arrived in Moscow on April 2. There is an interesting fact of history, which must be retold to illustrate the Chinese resolve to win the war against COVID-19. History will remember how the Soviets won the famous Battle of Moscow in 1941 during World War II. In the words of Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying, stated in her Regular Press Conference on April 3, 2020: “There is a saying by the Soviet Red Army to the effect that ‘we cannot retreat, because Moscow is just behind us’ “. In the face of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Chinese government never retreated, because behind it lay the safety and health of 1.4 billion Chinese people. With arduous efforts, China has won its “Battle of Moscow”. As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “COVID-19 is the greatest test that we have faced together since the formation of the United Nations”. The international community needs solidarity, cooperation, trust and science. These are our weapons to win the unprecedented “Battle of Moscow” against the virus. China stands ready to work with the world to further enhance bilateral and global coordination and facilitate the UN and WHO’s work to overcome the pandemic as soon as possible. Humankind will triumph through enhancing cooperation.