On 5th March 2020, Ambassador Li Minggang contributed a signed article entitled " China and Kuwait Go Hand-in-Hand to Fight the Epidemic" to Kuwait’s most widely circulated Arabic newspaper Alanba daily, where he introduced the latest developments and progress on China’s fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, and hihglighted China’s readiness to work closely with international community including Kuwait to win the battle against COVID-19 outbreak. The full text is as follows:
Since the beginning of the year 2020, the fierce novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has become a matter of serious attention and concern for international community. Facing the sudden challenge of COVID-19 epidemic, the Chinese government, under the leadership and command of Chinese President Xi Jinping, swiftly established a national prevention and control system, mobilized the entire country’s resources, and decisively adopted the most comprehensive and strict radical measures to fight against the epidemic.
In order to contain the spread of the epidemic, the Chinese government took decisive measures in the hardest-hit city Wuhan, Hubei Province. More than 42,000 medical workers from all over the country went to Hubei to aid epidemic control effort and save the lives of COVID-19 patients in danger around the clock. Two professional hospitals were built within an extremely short timeframe of less than 15 days, and many buildings were quickly transformed into temporary hospitals to ensure that all patients in different conditions would be received for treatment. Numerous scientific researchers raced against time and overcame difficulties to gain invaluable time for rapid diagnosis and scientific prevention. Ministries, as well as local governments of provinces and cities allocated all kinds of emergency supplies to Hubei Province, and medical supply factories and companies resumed work and production at full capacity to provide support to the virus-hit area. Citizens actively followed the epidemic control measures and instructions in a cooperative manner, which has provided very powerful support in the battle against the virus. From the central government to local governments, from cities to villages, and from healthcare personnel to ordinary citizens, people from the whole nation have endeavored wholeheartedly to build a comprehensive epidemic control front, and have raced against time and fight the virus to contain the epidemic with all-out efforts.
The arduous efforts of the Chinese people have produced initial progress in containing the spread of the virus within China. The daily number of new confirmed cases in Hubei Province, the epicenter, has dropped from a peak of 4,823 on 13th February to 115 on 3rd March, a 97.6% decrease. The daily number of new confirmed cases outside Hubei remained around 10 in the past 6 days. Around 3,000 new recovered and discharged cases have been reported daily over the past 7 days. Informative figures indicate that the anti-epidemic efforts are moving towards a positive direction. Decisive measures adopted by China are proven to be correct and effective, and the epidemic is, on the whole, controllable and treatable.
China is not only highly responsible for the health and safety of its people, but also has made enormous efforts to preserve the health of the people around the world and strengthen global public health security. The Chinese government timely shares information with the World Health Organization and international community on the epidemic, positively responds to concerns from all parties and promotes international cooperation in an open, transparent and responsible manner. In this battle against the invisible enemy, we are working around the clock to allow time for global preparedness, fighting on the front lines to contain the virus and setting a new standard for epidemic response. Dr. Tedros, Director-General of the World Health Organization, has on many occasions expressed appreciation for China’s measures taken to contain the virus, saying that these robust measures are encouraging, and although China has paid a heave price for these measures, China’s actions has bought the world time. Dr. Bruce Aylward, team lead of the WHO-China joint mission on COVID-19 and Senior Adviser to the Director-General of the World Health Organization, also praised that China’s prevention and control measures are proven by the facts to be the successful way to contain the epidemic.
There is a Chinese and an Arabic proverb both saying that “A friend in need is a friend indeed”, which recently touches me deeply. After the outbreak happened, His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim, His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah sent cables and letters of condolences to President Xi Jinping and their Chinese counterparts to express deep appreciation and firm support for the measures taken by the Chinese side to contain the epidemic. Kuwaiti friends from various sectors have also expressed their concern and support for China in many ways. All these support have significantly embodied the traditional friendship between China and Kuwait to help each other during difficult times. We are deeply grateful for that.
Countries in the world are now closely linked to each other as a community with a shared future, where all of us share ups and downs not only in face of the epidemic, but also in many aspects. Public health security is a challenge that requires a common response by humanity. It is worrying that COVID-19 outbreak is escalating worldwide. Kuwait has also recently reported confirmed COVID-19 cases, and we totally feel for Kuwait. A few days ago, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang respective replied to His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah via cable, where they thanked the latter for the sympathy from the Kuwaiti side and stressed that the Chinese side, while containing the epidemic, is ready to move forward in enhancing cooperation with the Kuwaiti side and sharing experiences on epidemic prevention and control to jointly protect the safety and health of our two peoples and to preserve regional and global public health security. The Chinese side stands in solidarity with the Kuwaiti side during the fight against this epidemic, and the Chinese Embassy in Kuwait is willing to maintain close communication and coordination with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies to carry out positive and effective cooperation on epidemic prevention and control. China also stands ready to provide assistance within its capabilities as per request from Kuwait, and work side by side with Kuwait to address the epidemic.
Viruses know no national borders or nationalities, and no one could isolate itself from global health challenge, while science, trust and solidarity are powerful weapons to tackle the outbreak. It is believed that, with solidarity and cooperation from the international community including Kuwait, we will surely prevail over the epidemic in the near future and win this battle together. We are also confident that, after the challenge of coronavirus outbreak, the China-Kuwait strategic partnership will usher in a more beautiful spring!