It is?time for the international community to?introspect on?the?direr situation the?world would?have been in?without China’s resolute and effective measures to contain the novel coronavirus?disease (COVID-19).

Disaster always?brings out what lies in the?human?heart.?The outbreak of?COVID-19?in Wuhan, central China,?triggered?two?different?reactions?in the international community.?One?was of goodwill, hoping that China would?defeat the virus and offering assistance. The other?was?of viciousness,?manifesting?in scurrilous attacks on?China and?labeling?COVID-19 “the?Wuhan virus,” and even “the?China virus.”

Where did?the virus originate??It remains an unsolved mystery, especially with detection of the infection in individuals and communities in other countries that have no links with China or the Chinese. Attacking?China or Wuhan because the?outbreak was?first?reported there is pointless because as scientists have pointed out, with changes in the weather, increasing human encroachment on wilderness and mutations in bacteria and viruses, the outbreak might have occurred anywhere. Diseases are the enemies of?all?humanity and an effective response is a united defense, not throwing blame around.

The?Chinese,?especially the people?in Wuhan, have made?enormous?sacrifices?to contain the virus?and the draconian measures are paying off. With China’s efforts,?for which it paid a huge price, the?spread of the virus?across its borders was controlled,?buying time for the international community to?implement their own safety measures. Without?these?effective measures,?COVID-19 could have become a pandemic.

Fortunately, the?accusations?against?China?seem to be going down while the voices of?reason?and goodwill?are prevailing. As COVID-19 cases are?reported?in more countries, China’s?success?in containing the virus?provides a template for?the international community?for?installing their own?epidemic control?faster.

In its fight?against?the?epidemic,?China has?followed the principle that it belongs to a?community with a shared future for?humanity. It has shared information on the epidemic, control measures?and the genetic sequence?of?the virus with other countries to help their scientists research vaccines, an act that?has won wide appreciation.

In this era of widening?globalization,?countries?are more closely linked than ever and in case of disaster, global?cooperation must be enhanced to address?it. Especially when the world?is facing?unknown?non-traditional threats such as?epidemics, goodwill?and solidarity are?the panacea it needs.

Source: Beijing Review