China Conquers the Epidemic amid Clamor

The COVID-19 epidemic raging around the world is a calamity for all mankind, with  confirmed cases sweeping through out 200 countries. The United States, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and China have become key countries of epidemic, with China suffering the first hit. The Philippines has also been hit by more than five thousand confirmed cases in the outbreak. After a sudden shock by the unnamed virus which no special drugs and vaccines can be healed, the Chinese government did not hesitate to make a firm decision to take the most effective measures to isolate the source of infection, at the expense of short-term economics, mobilizing national strength to curb the spread of the virus. It took more than two months to achieve a staged victory in the fight against epidemics, protected the lives of people, and was unanimously appreciated by the international community, including the World Health Organization. It has also accumulated experience for the current global anti-epidemic battle.

So far, China's battle against the COVID-19 is at the finishing stage. The whole country has made unremitting efforts to control the virus to the minimum extent, and to block the imported epidemic threat from the local community securing the normal life and of the people, creating a safe environment for the restart of economy. Compared with the reckless intention of some virus seriously hit countries who couldn't wait to resume economy when the epidemic is still in full gear, China has restored the post-epidemic order with a responsible attitude to the people's health, showing its scientific approach, effectiveness and sustainability.

The international community believes that China has won a decisive victory against the outbreak. While other countries are struggling against the epidemic, China's success is amazing. It is deemed by some comments that the Chinese leadership's decisive and effective reaction outshone the performance of the US government who has been unsuccessful. A study by an international team of scientists believes that the decision on Wuhan's lockdown has reduced China's export of epidemic to the rest of the world by more than 75%.

It is worth mentioning that the Philippine government performed lockdown on March 15 when there were only about 50 confirmed cases of infection in the country, and declared that the country was in a state of disaster, showing President Duterte's political wisdom to deal with the crisis. The President was aware that the Chinese government had something to be learned by the Philippines in combating the epidemic. He also said that he would seek help from China if necessary.

Unfortunately, China's success in the fight against epidemics has drawn some smears and attacks from western ideological paranoia. It seems they are dwarfed by China's achievements, exposing their helplessness and prejudice ignorance. They were furiously miffed, made up lies to accuse and passed the buck to China, and discredited China's significant contribution to the health and safety of the people of the world. Let's see how these people attacked China.

On April 1, the British "Daily Telegraph" published a column article, in which the author accused China of threatening to stop exporting key medical supplies, use the epidemic to seek economic benefits, and he called on the government to list China as a hostile country making threat to the economy and people's health. The US President and his senior officials ignored the WHO's standards of epidemic names and called the COVID-19 as "Chinese virus" for the purpose of covering up their failed policies. The United States is currently the most severe epicenter country in the world, with more than 600,000 people infected and nearly 30,000 deaths. Abraham Weintraub, Brazil's Minister of Education attacked and stigmatized China with a “Chinese virus” on social media. In a review article on April 12, Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun" falsely claimed that China had inappropriate measures, opaque information, and even slandered China's political system in response to the epidemic. When China was sent a large amount of medical supplies to France at the invitation of the French government, some French media described it as a "propaganda offensive".

Ironically, the Falun Gong, which was qualitatively determined as a cult by the Chinese government more than 20 years ago, claimed that the epidemic in China was caused by the Chinese government’s "persecution" on Falun Gong. They spread out propaganda materials to resist the government's isolation measures. However, Li Hongzhi, the founder who was exiled and lives in the U.S, was tested positive in March and was later sent to the ICU, which made the Falun Gong fanatics panicked. Their crooked theory said that they could not contain the virus, but more than 200 members at the Falun Gong headquarters in New York have been infected.

Due to ideological differences and western values, western interpretations and arrogance on China make them prejudiced against any achievements made by the Chinese system. They stubbornly believe that the Chinese social system cannot be better than theirs. Every victory in China is false. In the early days of the epidemic, the World Health Organization repeatedly praised China's anti-epidemic measures and praised China's actions, which were regarded by them as "getting the benefits of China."

Thanks to China's victory in the epidemic control, and countries outside China in a severe epidemic situation, western countries have copied China's operations and emulated China's anti-epidemic experience, such as building sheltered hospitals, city lockdown, the use of drones, and suggest wearing masks and cancel group gatherings, even their most stubborn refusal to wear masks was given lesson by the epidemic. They had to learn how to wear masks from the Chinese. The host of "Russia Today" teased the western media who once blamed China for its response to the crisis, but now it is following China.

China's success of anti-epidemic lures western media and people gradually change their attitudes towards China. A report by the British "Daily Mail" on April 4 said that while the west is suffering from "city lockdown" and social segregation, in China, with the partial or complete removal of restrictions, transportation between cities restarted, the factory resumed production, the warehouse began to restore material reserves, and life in almost all areas is returning to normal. The German “Manager Magazine” website reported on April 3 that China has adopted “unparalleled and unprecedented response measures”, which has quickly reversed the escalation of the epidemic. Christopher Day, an epidemiologist at Oxford University, told "Nature" magazine: "Even if there is a large-scale outbreak, the control measures taken by China will work." Published in a paper in "Science", researchers in China, the UK, and the US say travel restrictions, closures in public places, and emergency response have delayed the spread of the virus in China and prevented hundreds of thousands of infections.

Robert Kuhn, the well-known American "China Hand", bluntly said: "Nowhere else can China be like China. China's mobilization capabilities are unprecedented in the history of global medical treatment. History may well thank China for pioneering how to deal with virulent contagions in a globalized world. He severely criticized the United States for blaming China when it needed unity to deal with the coronavirus. He said, "I cannot imagine richer nutrients for the novel coronavirus to reproduce and spread, to flourish globally, than the United States and China to descend into unabashed and undisguised rivalry, with accusations each against the other. "

While China defeated the epidemic, the Chinese government did not forget to support the other countries in their fight against the epidemic. It sent a number of medical teams to share the experience of overcoming the epidemic in the disaster-stricken countries, and exported medical supplies on a large scale. China is the country with the most contributions to the world and obtained broad praises from other countries

At a critical moment in the global fight against the epidemic, the US president decided to pause funding the World Health Organization, which shocked the world. On April 14, Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the well-known medical journal "The Lancet", criticized Trump's decision as a crime against all mankind. The US political news site "Politico" reported that Trump's decision was also opposed by the American medical community, accusing him of weakening global efforts to fight the coronavirus.

Stephen Walter, a professor of international relations at Harvard University in the United States, recently said that the Trump administration’s self-centered, idle and deaf response to the epidemic will eventually make Americans suffer trillions of dollars in losses and tens of thousands of deaths that could have been avoided.

When the noise of attacking China in the world is still non-stop, China's has come out of the virus crisis. Likewise, the Philippine government has also encountered some interference in the decisive implementation of isolation measures. However, under the President’s determination and the implementation of the Bayanihan To Heal As One Act, the government’s measures to deal with the crisis have been put in place, and the people are being taken care of. China’s aid to the Philippines for medical supplies arrived in Manila on March 21. I believe that the Philippine will see the light at the end of the tunnel very soon.