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NEWS//China’s lemonade

NEWS//China’s lemonade

News, Blog

China is working hard to turn COVID-19’s lemons into lemonade.

UPDATE from the New York Times: The Chinese government silenced whistle-blowers, withheld crucial information and played down the threat posed by the new coronavirus, allowing an epidemic that has killed thousands to take hold across the country. Now the ruling Communist Party, facing a storm of anger from the Chinese public over its missteps, is trying to rehabilitate its image by rebranding itself as the unequivocal leader in the global fight against the virus.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative has the ambitious goal of linking Chinese industry with Asian, African, and European markets. Beginning in 2013, China has stepped up efforts to establish highway, rail, and shipping connections with nations between its western borders and the Atlantic Ocean.

Sharing medicine with the world

To highlight the current success of the Belt and Road Initiative and to emphasize its global goodwill, China is currently transporting medical supplies to Spain to assist with fighting COVID-19. (See the video below.)

China has also shared COVID-19 expertise, medical personnel, and medical supplies with other countries, including Italy, France, the Philippines, and the Bahamas.

Improving China’s image in the world

ECNS.cn, a Chinese news organization, says, “President Xi Jinping has used head-of-state diplomacy to call for the building of a community of common health for mankind amid the mounting global public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic…. China's experiences on epidemic control and its aid to the contagion-affected countries are boosting the confidence of the international community as it strives to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, and it helps them cope with the challenges arising from the disease, they said.

ECNS adds, “Since the start of the outbreak, Xi, as the country's commander-in-chief of the war on the contagion, has stepped up diplomatic efforts to advocate international cooperation on epidemic control as he sees that solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons against the virus.”