Chinese medical team members meet with Iranian medical experts in Tehran, Iran, March 7. Photo: Xinhua

 “China, which upholds the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, would like to share its experience in disease prevention and control with other countries, launch joint research and development of medicines and vaccines, and offer as much assistance as possible to countries that are affected by the disease.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remarks at the recent G20 Extraordinary Leaders' Summit on COVID-19 well explained to the world China’s highly responsible actions. China has always actively promoted international cooperation in combating the virus and offered assistance to other countries in a humanitarian spirit, manifesting its care and respect for human lives.

Photo taken on March 29, 2020 shows officials from Pakistan National Disaster Management Authority and the Chinese Embassy pose for group photo during a hand-over ceremony of medical supplies at Noor Khan Air Base near Islamabad, Pakistan. (Xinhua/Liu Tian)

The novel coronavirus has claimed many lives, and the world must seize every opportunity to defeat the virus and save human lives. This is a time when a humanitarian spirit is particularly needed – every life should be cared for; every individual should be respected, and every patient should be treated.

Protecting human lives and health calls for humanitarian spirit, and so does the global victory over the pandemic. “We must come to the aid of the ultra-vulnerable – millions upon millions of people who are least able to protect themselves,” said United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres during the launch of COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan.

The UN has allocated $75 million toward an emergency response fund to protect the worst-affected by the pandemic, and to support water supply and healthcare.

Medical experts to Italy pose for a group photo before departure in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, March 25, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

The world must act in solidarity to cope with the pandemic. After securing a phased success in domestic epidemic control, China is doing its best to offer assistance to the world with a spirit of humanity. It has dispatched medical expert teams to Iran, Iraq, Italy, Serbia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Laos, Venezuela, and the Philippines, and offered material assistance to 120 countries and four international organizations. Besides, it has also shared its epidemic control experiences with over 180 countries, and 10 international and regional organizations.

China's anti-virus international assistance is the most intensive and wide-ranging emergency humanitarian operation since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The international community has widely applauded China. 

An handout picture taken and released by the Serbia’s presidential press office on March 21 shows Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (left) welcoming a group of Chinese doctors at Belgrade’s airport. Photo: AFP

China’s timely assistance received a warm response. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban received Chinese assisting expert teams and supplies at the respective airports. Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen live streamed the arrival of the Chinese experts in Phnum Penh, which was watched by 600,000 people online. Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio noted that Chinese experts and the supplies they brought would save Italy.

Such appreciation fully proves that China is doing the right thing, and the humanitarian spirit of the Chinese aid is well respected.

A just cause should be pursued for common good. Offering assistance to those in need is a fine tradition of the Chinese nation. Over the past 70 years of China’s foreign aid, the country has always adhered to internationalism and humanitarian spirit and offered assistance within its capability to the countries threatened by natural disasters and major epidemics. It has offered sincere aid in multiple deadly emergencies, such as the Indian Ocean tsunami, Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the major earthquake that struck Nepal.

China never sits back and watches when its friends are in trouble, or attaches any string to its foreign aid – this is what the country values.

The arrogance and prejudices of some Westerners, as well as their narrow-minded geopolitical calculations that discredit China’s humanitarian aid and smear the country’s kind acts, are totally tarnishing the humanitarian spirit.

The world is a witness that China has gone in harm’s way with the bravery to protect the lives and health of the people around the world, which signals the significance of the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and marks concrete actions toward this vision.

Members of the Chinese anti-epidemic medical expert team give advice on COVID-19 prevention and control at the China-Laos railway construction site on the outskirts of Lao capital Vientiane, April 5, 2020. (China Railway No.2 Engineering Group/Handout via Xinhua)

China’s practices demonstrate its love for the world and shine with the humanitarian spirit, which is also ingrained in the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

People and their lives are of utmost value, and this should be always remembered in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Solidarity and cooperation remain the most powerful weapon, and humanitarian spirit deserves particular attention. As long as countries around the world prioritize people’s lives and health, and take action to cooperate without ideological prejudices, they can build strong cohesion in enhancing international cooperation and jointly achieve the final victory over this major infectious disease.