China's help to boost nations fighting virus

Medical assistance and information sharing will deepen the mutual trust, experts say

The medical assistance and information sharing by China will not only help shore up confidence of other countries in effectively fighting against novel coronavirus, but deepen mutual trust and friendship in a community of shared public health, according to analysts from international organizations and research institutes.

"Considering that China is still going through a very rough period, donations to Thailand in the form of various kinds of masks and other related apparatus are truly felt in the hearts of every Thai," said Korn Dabbaransi, president of the Thai-Chinese Friendship Association and former deputy prime minister of Thailand.

The association was among the first in Thailand to donate medical materials to China weeks ago.

With the coordination of the Chinese embassy in Thailand, China's Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation have donated medical supplies to Thailand. The supplies reached Bangkok on March 25, according to the embassy.

The mutual assistance over the past three months has only confirmed the cultural beliefs of Thai people as they have always regarded China as their deep-rooted relative all along, said Dabbaransi.

So far, China has provided assistance to 89 countries and four international organizations to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the China International Development Cooperation Agency.

Apart from professional medical groups to several countries, large groups of Chinese doctors are also sharing front-line experience with overseas doctors online. In Asia, medical supplies and medical workers from China have been sent to 28 countries.

"I appreciate China's gesture in sending assistance in terms of medical kits and other things in these challenging times," said Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, president of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association.

On March 26, the association received medical supplies from a group of Chinese organizations and companies.

"I think China is showing the right way toward global cooperation," said the former Malaysian ambassador to China.

He said this is "clearly manifested in the last week or so when China has extended assistance to almost all countries (affected by COVID-19), not just in Southeast Asia, but also in Europe".

Medical supplies arrived in Jakarta on March 28, according to the Chinese embassy in Indonesia.

"China has made lot of efforts in the fight against COVID-19, and now it is helping the people in other countries to better know and deal with the virus," said Jondras Kasrian, honorary president of the Chinese Indonesian Association. "People in the world should say thank you to China."

Besides helping with medical supplies and equipment, Indonesia needs to learn from China how to counter the disease, said Veronika S Saraswati, head of China Study Unit at Jakarta-based think tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

"China has showed the effectiveness of its methods, and it is important for these methods to be shared," she added.

In the Republic of Korea, after the first consignment of masks donated by China arrived on March 11, Chinese companies and organizations have continued to donate various medical supplies to the country.

China and the Republic of Korea have truly realized people-to-people connectivity with deepened mutual understanding, as seen from the mutual assistance from governments and society during the fight against COVID-19, said Yu Wanying, senior researcher at Sungkyun Institute of China Studies at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul.

Yu said the assistance provided by China will help to convey the value of building a community with a shared future.

Countries have become so close and deeply related that when lives are facing challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, the only choice for the world is to jointly fight against it, said Yu.

The assistance from China to the international community has showcased its virtue to repay goodwill with greater kindness and the country's responsibility as a big country, said Yu.

The Chinese embassy in Pakistan said eight Chinese medical experts arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, on March 28, together with medical supplies, including masks, protective clothing, ventilators, defibrillator monitors and drugs for treating COVID-19.

This followed the first consignment of nearly 2 tons of medical supplies from China on March 27.

Previously, China had sent medical experts to virus-hit countries such as Iran, Iraq, Serbia, Cambodia, Italy and Spain, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.