Written Interview of Ambassador WANG Wentian on Fighting COVID-19 Pandemic
(16 August 2021，Phnom Penh)

 

 

 

There is one point that needs to be made clear first: China was the first country to report COVID-19 cases, not the first to be infected. There is growing evidence that both the United States and Europe had suspected cases of COVID-19 infection before the COVID-19 cases in China were reported. No reporting elsewhere does not mean there was no infection, and the first reporting does not mean it was the first to be infected. Origin-tracing is a serious scientific matter that should neither be jumped to nor imposed. It is more dangerous to politicize such an issue. China has succeeded in containing the spread of COVID-19 in a very short time and has become an important leading force in the global fight against the COVID-19, thanks to the following three main aspects.

 

First and foremost is the strong leadership. The Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government, which have always been prioritizing the people’s well-being, quickly unified the public opinion and carried out comprehensive and effective mobilization, thus paving the way for the remarkable victory against COVID-19. Many countries in the region, including Cambodia, have also taken decisive measures, in stark contrast to the muddled decision-making, scapegoating and ineffective measures of the United States.

 

Second is the scientific and effective measures. China was the first to identify the genetic sequence of the early stage COVID-19 virus, as well as the first to introduce a treatment guideline and a 14-day immune quarantine policy, which played a key role in slowing down the spread of the pandemic. Many of these practices are still in use around the world. China was one of the first countries to develop COVID-19 vaccines and indeed the first to supply other countries including Cambodia with the vaccines as an international public good, to build immunity barriers. In addition to routine medical treatment, Chinese medicines such as Lianhua Qingfei Capsules and Huashi Baidu Granules have also played an important role. They are widely used not only in China but also in many other countries.

 

Third is the nationwide participation. Following the onset of the COVID-19, 1.4 billion Chinese people banded together to overcome the challenges and quickly erected a massive wall of steel for prevention and control of the pandemic. From Beijing to the whole of China, people from all walks of life worked together in preventing and controlling the COVID-19, putting into full play the ingenuity and strength of the people.

 

 

China and Cambodia enjoy a long history of friendship. Our two peoples have established and nurtured mutual respect and "Iron-clad" brotherhood in their long-term exchanges. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, China and Cambodia have been working together to overcome the difficulties. Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen visited China in harm’s way on February 5 last year, reaffirming his unwavering support for China's fight against the pandemic through concrete actions. After COVID-19 cases were found in Cambodia, the Chinese government and military dispatched to Cambodia the first team of anti-pandemic experts in the region and worldwide respectively, rendering our full support to the country. China was also the first to provide vaccine donation and commercial procurement to Cambodia, with over 21 million doses delivered up to date.

 

According to Zhong Nanshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the protection effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine against the Delta variant was 100% for severe cases, 76.9%, 67.2% and 63.2% for moderate, mild and asymptomatic cases respectively, evaluated from the Delta variant spread in Guangzhou in May 2021. Meanwhile, safety and efficacy of the Chinese vaccine have been fully demonstrated. H. E. Ms. York Sambath, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Health, said on August 12th when receiving the new batch of Chinese vaccines that despite the rampant spread of Delta variant, the number of new cases in Cambodia is not soaring, showing that the Chinese vaccines are very effective against this variant.

 

The vaccination of a third dose has been lauded by scientists from many countries and is conducive to COVID-19 prevention and control. The Chinese government is now also studying the prospect of a third booster dose plan. Chinese medicines, such as Lianhua Qingwen Capsule and Huashi Baidu Granules, are available in many countries. And, western medicines developed in China against COVID-19, such as Proxalutamide, have also been introduced.

 

 

China has all along taken a scientific attitude as it engages in global cooperation on science-based origin-tracing. China invited WHO experts to China twice for origin-tracing research. In March this year, WHO officially released the Joint Report by the WHO-China joint study team, which provides the most authoritative, professional and science-based conclusions on origin-tracing. It is widely agreed in the international scientific community that it is “extremely unlikely” that the virus leaked from the laboratory. 

 

However, the United States has politicized the pandemic, stigmatized China with terms such as “Wuhan virus”, and weaponized origin-tracing to bash China in order to shift responsibility for their own botched pandemic response and achieve the political purpose of discrediting and containing other countries, which has seriously undermined science-based origin-tracing and global fight against the pandemic. The United States' political manipulation has been widely opposed by the international community. So far, 76 countries have written to the WHO Director-General, emphasizing that origin-tracing of the virus is a scientific matter that should not be politicized and that the China-WHO joint report should be upheld. Politicians, the media, experts, and citizens from many countries have spoken out in various ways, accusing the United States of politicizing the origin-tracing. More than 20 million Chinese people have petitioned the WHO online to investigate safety concerns at the Fort Detrick biological laboratory in the United States. Rumor has it that the United States is putting together a report on the origin-tracing of COVID-19 in the near future, we wonder what it would look like other than something fabricated out of thin air. The United States has to recognize that in the face of facts, science and justice, its attempt to politicize origin-tracing is not only against people's shared aspiration, but also doomed to failure. In the end, they will shoot themselves in the foot.

 

I would like to stress that politicization of origin-tracing is the biggest obstacle to the fight against the pandemic, and that China's position on global origin-tracing is consistent and clear-cut.

 

First, origin-tracing is a matter of science. It should be and can only be left to scientists to identify, through scientific research, the virus's zoonotic source and animal-human transmission routes. No country has the right to put its own political interests above people's lives, nor should a matter of science be politicized for the purpose of slandering and attacking other countries.

 

Second, the findings and recommendations of the WHO-China joint study report are widely recognized by the international community and scientists, and must be respected and implemented by all parties, including WHO. The future work of global origin-tracing should and must proceed from that basis, instead of reinventing the wheel.

 

Third, China has all along supported and will continue to take part in science-based origin-tracing efforts. What China opposes is politicizing origin-tracing, or origin-tracing that goes against the WHA resolution and disregards the joint study report.

 

Fourth, the WHO Secretariat should act on the WHA resolution, conduct thorough consultation with member states on the global origin-tracing work plan, including the follow-up mechanism, and fully respect the views of member states. Very importantly, the plan for origin-tracing involving a particular country must be decided through consultation with the country concerned, as it provides the basis for effective cooperation to be conducted.

 

The virus knows no borders and does not distinguish between races. China, like other countries, is a victim of the pandemic. Given the ongoing spread and rebound of the virus, the priority remains to be stepping up equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and enhancing solidarity and cooperation. Origin-tracing cooperation must be based on science, and politicization must be firmly rejected. China will work with other parties to carry out science-based global origin-tracing, and contribute China's part to humanity's final victory over COVID-19.

 

 

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China has provided up to 800 million doses of vaccine to countries around the world, including Cambodia, making tremendous contribution to the international fight against the pandemic, fulfilling President Xi Jinping's solemn commitment to make Chinese vaccines a global public good.

 

China has provided 21.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Cambodia, including 3.2 million in donation, providing stanch support to the Cambodian government in vaccinating 10 million people and developing herd immunity nationwide against the virus. China will continue to provide vaccines and other medical supplies to Cambodia within its capacity, as it will always be a strategic source of vaccines for Cambodia.

 

In addition to providing vaccines directly, China has also been cooperating with some countries in vaccine production, making further contribution to boosting vaccine production and making vaccines accessible and affordable to developing countries. As the fight against COVID-19 goes on, I believe, the Chinese vaccine companies will continue to expand international cooperation and establish vaccine filling and production plants in more countries. I certainly hope that Cambodia will have such an opportunity.