Childcare centre operators are advised to refer to the Women, Family and
Community Development Ministry and Social Welfare Department’s websites
for information on the updated SOPs. — Bernama pic
PUTRAJAYA, June 2 — The government will update the standard operating procedures (SOP) for childcare centres, thereby enabling the vast majority to resume their activities.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry tabled the updated SOPs earlier today during the ministerial meeting on implementing the conditional movement control order (MCO)
“Before this, 304 out of 7,000 childcare centres nationwide were allowed to operate per the government’s SOPs. The update will enable the remaining 6,696 centres to operate immediately,” he said during his daily press briefing.
Childcare centre operators are advised to refer to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and Social Welfare Department’s websites for further information.
Ismail Sabri added the SOPs for pre-schools and kindergartens will be finalised by the Education Ministry before they are allowed to resume operations, as their management falls under the purview of several other ministries.
As of yesterday, the Housing and Local Government Ministry has conducted 7,426 public sanitation operations in 132 zones since efforts began on March 30.
Approximately 10,956 premises have been sanitised, including 2,642 business centres, 4,056 government buildings, 1,581 housing areas including public housing, 2,325 public areas, and 352 supermarkets.
Yesterday alone saw 47 sanitation operations conducted covering 31 zones in 10 states, including 14 in Sabah, and seven in Johor and Melaka.
As of 8am today, 185 Covid-19 quarantine centres are in operation compared to 186 the day before. Currently 14,365 individuals are undergoing mandatory quarantine.
Approximately 168 Malaysians were brought back yesterday from Thailand, Singapore, China, Australia and the Netherlands, and placed in quarantine.
Since April 3, 48,773 Malaysians have been brought back from abroad and quarantined, with 38,021 individuals having since completed their mandatory 14-day quarantine period and allowed to return home.
Welcome help: the government subsidy will allow childcare centres to
carry out daily sanitisation and cleaning activities so parents are more comfortable with the idea of bringing their children back to the centres.
The childcare subsidy in the Pelan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara (Penjana) will help support working parents and nurseries in adapting to the new normal.
Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia president Anisa Ahmad said the one-off grant of up to RM5,000 per registered childcare centre (taska) would help them carry out important new healthcare standard operating procedure (SOP).
“The grant will help a taska carry out daily sanitisation and cleaning activities, making parents more comfortable in sending their children to nurseries due to the enhanced safety procedure.
“Many parents were asking for taska to open up but when we reopened recently, not many children were sent there.
“Parents are still wary of Covid-19 but it’s also expensive for us to operate and pay rental and staff salaries if we are unable to collect enough monthly fees.
“So we hope that the new initiatives will restore their confidence and encourage parents to send their children to nurseries again, ” said Anisa yesterday.
The fact that early childhood education was given a mention by the Prime Minister in his short-term economic revival package and included in Penjana was “very refreshing”, she added.
The government is providing incentives to train new practitioners for childcare and early education courses under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.
“We understand that it is an incentive of RM900 for the Permata programme and we’re happy that early childhood education was given a focus, ” Anisa said.
On the RM800 e-vouchers per household for mobile childcare services, Anisa said: “As far as I know, online childcare services are not licensed or certified by the Welfare Department. More clarity is needed on this.”
About 8,000 childcare centres, 5,000 households and an estimated 10,000 new early education practitioners will benefit from the government’s childcare subsidy programme.
Parents like Sheikh Rahim, 30, welcomed the increase in income tax relief for parents on childcare services expenses from RM2,000 to RM3,000 for the year assessment of 2020 and 2021.
“It’s a relief especially since we are halfway through the year and taska usually ends by November, ” said the executive at a travel company.
Asked if he would be confident enough to send his three-year-old child back to taska soon, Sheikh said this would depend on the compliance of the operator.
Nurhidayah Rahman, 27, who is eight months pregnant and looking to continue working after her maternity leave, gave the thumbs up to the increase in income tax relief.
“Monthly expenses for taska in Kuala Lumpur range between RM1,000 for basic and RM1,800 for more upscale care.
“So any offset is welcomed as it puts more money into the pocket of parents but the government will also have to play its role by having stringent approval for nurseries, ” she said.
Pandemics have been pivotal points in history with vast contrasting effects on the affected populations. Covid-19 has triggered a global economic turmoil that threatens the world order.
Third World countries should create stronger ties with one another in view of the trade challenges ahead, Asli’s Centre for Public Policy Studies Chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said.
“Covid-19 has allowed the world to see that the US and other western countries are not all that (competent),” he said yesterday.
“The pandemic ravaged them, while many commonly oppressed countries in South America and Asia handled the situation much better. Third World countries should band together with China to create increased shared prosperity.”
Ramon said the situation would turn dismal if states and economic blocs turn to self-preservation.
“Beggar-thy-neighbour policies that call for protective barriers and sanctions, would provide opportunities for declarations of war and the suppression of the Third World.”
Emir Research President Datuk Dr Rais Hussin said the pandemic has shaken the global economy faster and more severely than the 2008 global financial crisis or the Great Depression of the 1930s.
“In the US, the S&P 500 fell 30% in 22 days, the fastest drop in its history,” he said yesterday.
The S&P 500 is a measurement of the performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the US, and is used as a benchmark of its overall market.
“Similar situations can be seen with other countries such as China, India, and the European Union, which are Malaysia’s trading partners.”
He said global powers could force their ways on resource-rich countries as resources wane. “China has already started flexing its muscles with its recent incursions into the South China Sea.”
Meanwhile, Malaysian Trades Union Congress secretary-general J. Solomon said there could be a large exodus of foreign workers from Malaysia.
“With the economic crisis, the Malaysian government should put pressure on companies to prioritise local workers,” he said. “This could lead to an exodus of foreign workers.
“If the government fails to take care of locals, we may instead see a big departure of Malaysians seeking better pay in other countries.”
Solomon also said businesses may head towards automation, instead of employing a human workforce.
“Minister of International Trade and Industry Ministry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has called on the business community to reduce their dependence on physical labour and focus more on automation and the use of technology,” he said.
“We see his statement as irresponsible as it creates fear in workers, and we hope that the government will ensure that any such transition will be executed in a balanced manner.”
Recently, Germany’s largest newspaper ‘Bild’ published an invoice
amounting to €149bil that Beijing ‘owes’ Berlin from the impact of
Covid-19. — Reuters
U.S. top health adviser rejects lab-made virus theory
The U.S. administration has been flirting with a theory that the novel coronavirus was created in a Chinese lab, but top White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has rejected that.
https://youtu.be/T2csc3Pi42c
https://youtu.be/0kX6zYAl-1c
Donald Trump claims injection of disinfectants could be a viable way to treat COVID-19 patients. Experts express concerns that it might mislead the public.
https://youtu.be/ciJZDDZbyw8
Trump's gang self-exposed: We are ALL vaccinated! Covid-19 is a CIA plot against all mankind!
https://youtu.be/Vbb-i3b7E4M
https://youtu.be/Sjr8t_4iRno
https://youtu.be/utw27J7Z1BQ
Richard Horton: We should work together with China fighting COVID-19
https://youtu.be/yCnSEzRedGo
Science man: Dr Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, has refuted Trump’s theory that the coronavirus
came from a lab in Wuhan. — AP
IN recent weeks, some anti-China governments and lawyers have been hyping up unreasonable demands for compensation to the tune of billions – and even trillions – from Beijing for the origin and spread of Covid-19.
China has become an easy target in the current global public health catastrophe just because the first novel coronavirus case was reported in Wuhan in the mainland.
This anti-China campaign to press for hefty compensation is getting more intense as Western politicians lend credence to the movement.
The first case was fired off by a Florida attorney, who filed a federal class-action lawsuit on March 12 against the Chinese government, accusing it of “a slow early response” to the coronavirus crisis in China that caused “injury and incalculable harm” to business and people totalling US$6bil (RM26.2bil).
On April 18, US President Donald Trump added fuel to the fire when he warned that China could face consequences for the Covid-19 pandemic.
“If they were knowingly responsible, yeah, I mean, then sure there should be consequences,” Trump was quoted by Reuters as saying at a daily media briefing.
He did not state the actions the United States might take.
Trump and his senior aides have been accusing China for a lack of transparency in dealing with the coronavirus spread in its Wuhan province, after failing to gain support from scientists in his earlier exertion that the virus had originated from China.
China has repeatedly denied all allegations.
US allies – the UK, France, Australia and India – have joined in the fray to incriminate China.
Most recently, Germany’s largest newspaper, Bild, published a €149bil itemised “invoice” that Beijing “owes” Berlin from the impact of Covid-19.
It is obvious that with the pandemic engulfing over 200 countries, some governments that have failed to contain the virus spread in their backyard are looking for a scapegoat.
Many Western countries have been pointing fingers at China.
Although China has wiped out its epidemic and is helping other countries fight the battle, it continues to face a ruthless barrage of vicious allegations and accusations.
Besides using China as a scapegoat, the US and West are seen as taking the opportunity to smear China and discredit the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by President Xi Jinping.
To them, it is unthinkable that the CPC was able to mobilise 1.4 billion Chinese nationals to stay indoor for two months from January to March until the virus was contained.
Hence, instead of choosing the global cooperation advocated by Beijing, Trump is constantly picking on China with old and new accusations.
As the US is facing a presidential election in November, bashing China is seen as a strategy to gain electoral support as past surveys have shown that many Americans dislike the CPC.
But by focussing on geopolitics, Trump is allowing the deadly virus to creep into all corners of the United States.
The United States is now the worst-hit nation in the current pandemic.
Covid-19 has infected 905,333 people and killed 51,949 across the country as of Saturday, according the Johns Hopkins University.
Globally, infections have shot passed 2.82 million with death toll at over 197,500 as of Saturday, according to the official website of World Health Organisation (WHO).
Science man: Dr Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has refuted Trump’s theory that the coronavirus came from a lab in Wuhan. — AP
Origin of Covid-19
Up to now, the origin of the virus is still a mystery – at least in the world of science.
Although Wuhan was the first to report the new virus, recent studies on genomes show that Covid-19 could have originated in the United States or elsewhere.
While Trump has now switched his rhetoric to whether the virus had emanated from a lab in Wuhan.
The WHO officials and Trump’s own White House advisers have refuted this hypothesis.
The WHO has repeatedly said that “from all available evidence, the novel coronavirus was not manipulated or constructed in a laboratory.”
Dr Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious disease expert in the White House, has rejected Trump’s allegations too.
Before this, a group of researchers have already written in the journal Nature Medicine: “Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus.”
Repeated blame on China
Since the talk on origin and lab conspiracy do not hold water, then what else can Beijing be faulted on?
Chinese leaders have been repeatedly accused of “not being transparent, covering up and suppressing information” in the early stage of the outbreak by Trump and his Western allies.
Although China has admitted there were early missteps and underestimation of public risks during the initial stage, it had quickly acted to inform the WHO and scientists in the United States soon after.
“This miscalculation did not hinder the communication between Chinese and foreign scientists. All data were sent out, including a thesis by Chinese scholars in international academic journals,” said China’s Global Times.
On Jan 20, China made public its findings on human-to-human transmissions.
Global Times argued: “At the global level, the time lost could have been compensated by taking resolute measures. This was especially true for those countries far from China.”
Wuhan locked down its city in the early hours of Jan 23, and from then onwards, China rapidly mobilised. Harsh measures to prevent contagion were criticised but the country struggled on.
And by early March, China had brought the situation in China under control.
In fact, the accusation that Beijing had delayed in informing the world about Covid-19 has been refuted by WHO and Western scientists.
Scientists in China have won international praise for hitting several key milestones in understanding the novel, fast-moving virus, according to research and innovation forum Science/Business on April 7.
Ian Jones, professor of biomedical sciences at Reading University, told its newsletter: “We will never know if faster action in those first days could have averted the outbreak. Despite the initial slow reaction, there has been a very open dialogue since and many research findings from the Chinese experience are now appearing.”
Dr Zhang Jixian, the first doctor to report Covid-19 cases to Wuhan authorities on Dec 27, defended Beijing by stating authorities had responded promptly after getting her report.
In an interview on April 18 with CGTV, the director of the department of respiratory and critical care medicine at the Hubei Provincial Hospital showed records of a medical consultation of seven Covid-19 patients at the early stage.
A vendor at the Huanan Seafood Market, who was sent to the hospital on Dec 27, 2019, showed the severest symptoms among the seven.
“I reported to the district at noon on Dec 27, and they came to conduct an epidemiological survey that afternoon and collected patients’ blood samples and throat swabs,” Zhang said.
As the hospital in which Zhang works could not identify the source of infection, expert help from the district level and provincial CDC was sought.
“They reacted quite quickly,” Zhang recalled.
“I suspected it could be a kind of infectious disease, but did not expect the virus to spread like this – so infectious and serious, and affecting so many areas.”
On Jan 3, China formally reported the situation to the WHO and other countries, including the United States.
Does the case against China hold water?
Hostile groups may file charges against China, but are these grounded on norms and legal principles?
It is an international practice that a sovereign or a government cannot be sued.
It is obvious from the reasons cited against China thus far that most have been based on imaginary assumptions and baseless allegations.
Even if the virus had originated from Wuhan, China should not be made to compensate the world, as virus knows no boundary and country. It can emerge anytime and anywhere.
When the H1N1 pandemic, which started in the United States in 2009 claimed an estimated over 200,000 lives worldwide, there was no claim against Washington.
Did Washington compensate the world for the economic and financial loss to investors and countries resulting from the collapse of the Lehman Brothers of the US in September 2008?
When the Ebola broke out in West Africa, the world behaved in a sympathetic and civil manner.
By the same token, China – the first victim of the pandemic – should not be assaulted.
Perhaps, governments attacking China should reflect on what they had not done after witnessing China suffer in January.
Hannan Hussain, a security analyst at the London School of Economics, comments “there is no case against China as Beijing has concrete information-sharing reference points”, including sharing the genome sequence of Covid-19 in January.
“Washington lacks similar precedents, given its removal of key CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) officials that were tasked with the tracking, investigation and containment of diseases in China,” he wrote in the South China Morning Post recently.
Reuters revealed on March 26 that the Trump administration had cut its staff presence at the CDC in Beijing by two-thirds over the past two years.
While the “lion-mouth” claims against China may eventually turn out to be a waste of time, the West and their proxies will achieve their motive of smearing China.
China-bashing will continue.
This should not come as a surprise, given that the United States and the West have often wanted to contain the rise of China, which has become the world’s second-largest economy and is now the only enviable country focusing on rebuilding its virus-battered economy.
According to research, although Wuhan is the initial epicentre, it may not be the root of the outbreak.
No proof that COVID-19 originated in Wuhan: Peter Forster
https://youtu.be/AQQf2yoymu0
Peter Forster, a geneticist at the University of #Cambridge, has identified three distinct strains of COVID-19. Forster and his team traced the origins of the epidemic by analyzing 160 genomes from human patients and found that the strain in #Wuhan mutated from an earlier version. #Coronavirus
https://youtu.be/fB8M37gx5xM
https://youtu.be/Ozlc4yZ0-es
https://youtu.be/Q2-OZchVEfQ
Going out safely: People wearing face masks seen on the East Lake after
the lockdown was lifted in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. —
Reuters
CHINA bashing is continuing even as the world struggles to fight the killer Covid-19 virus. In fact, the blame game has intensified, fuelled by some western politicians and the media.
It’s not a good time for Asians, especially ethnic Chinese, to be in Western countries as there have been reported cases of racial abuse and even assault.
Without doubt, these, are isolated cases as the majority of people are reasonable but such incidents have made many Chinese people in these countries feel uneasy and unsafe.
Amid all these, a very important report went almost unnoticed last week. Perhaps most journalists were preoccupied with headline- grabbing news of Covid-19 deaths and lockdown violators.
The report, which has been widely discussed in the scientific community, was carried by some newspapers but CNN and BBC did not find it interesting enough or perhaps it did not fit into their narrative.
Well, for the first time, experts from Britain and Germany have mapped the evolutionary path of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 and determined there are currently three versions of it spreading around the world.
In simple English, the viruses are mutating – changing their forms – and these scientists have put them in three forms, or variants, as they prefer to call them. But the bad news is that they are still mutating, and more variants could be added later.
The virus, according to these experts – “is constantly mutating to overcome immune system resistance in different populations.”
According to the findings, these researchers reconstructed the early evolutionary paths of the virus as it spread from the epicentre in Wuhan, China, out to Europe and North America.
By analysing the first 160 complete virus genomes to be sequenced from human patients, scientists found the variant closest to that discovered in bats was largely found in patients from the US and Australia – not Wuhan.
They used data from samples taken from across the world between Dec 24,2019 and March 4,2020. They found that the closest type of coronavirus to the one discovered in bats – type A, the original human virus genome – was present in Wuhan, but was not the city’s predominant virus type. The Chinese city was initially the epicentre of the outbreak.
The finding said type A was also found in Americans who had lived in Wuhan, and in other patients diagnosed in the United States and Australia.
However, the report did not elaborate who were the Americans who had lived in Wuhan and how they got infected.
The most common variant found in Wuhan was type B although this appeared not to have travelled much beyond East Asia before mutating, which the researchers said was probably due to some form of resistance to it outside that region.
Type C was the variant found most commonly in Europe based on cases in France, Italy, Sweden and England.
It has not been detected in any patients in mainland China, though it had been found in samples from Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea, the study said.
Dr Peter Forster, geneticist and lead author from the University of Cambridge, said: “There are too many rapid mutations to neatly trace a Covid-19 family tree.”
But the researchers concluded that variant A was the root of the outbreak as it was most closely related to the virus found in bats and pangolins. Type B was derived from A, separated by two mutations, while type C was the “daughter” of variant B.
“The Wuhan B-type virus could be immunologically or environmentally adapted to a large section of the East Asian population, ” Forster said.
“It may need to mutate to overcome resistance outside East Asia. We seem to see a slower mutation rate in East Asia than elsewhere, in this initial phase.”
But one thing is for sure. It is not a good time to travel as the virus has been transmitted at an unbelievable speed.
For example, the study reported that one of the earliest introductions of the virus to Italy was found in a Mexican traveller, who was diagnosed on Feb 28, came via the first documented German infection – a person who worked for a company in Munich on Jan 27.
The German contracted the infection from a Chinese colleague in Shanghai, who had recently been visited by her parents from Wuhan. The researchers documented 10 mutations in the viral journey from Wuhan to Mexico.
“Because we have reconstructed the ‘family tree’ (the evolutionary history) of the human virus, we can use this tree to trace infection routes from one human to the next, and thus have a statistical tool to suppress future infection when the virus tries to return, ” Forster said.
The research team has since extended its analysis to 1,001 viral genomes and while it has yet to undergo peer review, the report has indicated that the spread of the virus has increasingly adapted to different populations and therefore the pandemic needs to be taken seriously.
More importantly, this scientific report could help politicians and the media to understand better the cause of the virus, and end their conspiracy blame game.
Beijing is helping the US and other unfriendly countries to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, but is this kind gesture worth it?
https://youtu.be/sdre7SOd2hg
今天，中美正式摊牌！百年国运之战已经开始！
https://youtu.be/KKJ6em7g53o
Free to travel: The Wuhan lockdown was lifted on april 8 after 76 days of tough isolation measures. — Bloomberg
IN three to nine months when the global Covid-19 pandemic subsides or ends, Beijing, which has put its domestic coronavirus contagion under control, may not be able to smile and celebrate with the rest of the world.
The path ahead is filled with challenges for China, the magnitude of which could be frightening.
This economic giant of the East, now leading the global fight against Covid-19, is likely to continue to face a barrage of accusations – or even lies – that could prompt opportunistic and hostile countries to demand compensations to the tune of billions or even trillions from Beijing based on the current narratives.
In short, China – the first country to be hit by the coronavirus, will have to brace itself for another intense battle after defeating the invisible coronavirus with a huge cost and sacrifice. If the republic is not prepared for these future challenges, its strong manufacturing sector may suffer, its important position in the global supply chain and its economy will be derailed.
This is the post Covid-19 scenario painted by Chinese netizens on social media, as they warn their leaders to stop giving free aid or sell medical supplies cheap to “ungrateful and evil” countries.
The worries of the Chinese nationals are not unfounded. They stem from recent news flow and anti-China remarks made by the US and its allies.
In Washington, China faces criticism over the way it had handled the pandemic, lack of transparency and alleged delay in sharing crucial information with the world on the virus. US President Donald Trump, who labelled the coronavirus the “Chinese virus” last month, has often said Beijing should have acted faster to warn the world of the risk. He has even expressed doubt over Chinese data on infections and deaths. All these verbal assaults are hurled at China even as the US and its allies are receiving Chinese aid or made-in-China surgical masks, ventilators, Covid-19 test kits and protective gear. As its production of masks is fast and efficient, accounting for about 50% of the world’s output, countries short of supply now have to turn to China for this essential commodity.
Out and about: People wearing face masks walking near a shopping complex after the lockdown in Wuhan was lifted. — Reuter
Although China has been sharing its experience and expertise in locking down Wuhan from Jan 23 to April 7 to curb the spread of the virus, it still has to endure incessant finger-pointing just because the first Covid-19 outbreak occured there.
While Trump has stopped calling it the “Chinese virus”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other senior officials have stepped up their campaign against China, insisting on labelling Covid-19 as “Chinese virus” and “Wuhan virus”.
By using the label, they are insinuating that the virus had originated from Wuhan. And by extention, China should compensate the virus-hit countries whose economies have been derailed and social life disrupted.
One class action lawsuit against China has been filed in the Federal Court in the US seeking damages suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic. The stigmatisation of China by US continues unabated despite the release of more and more studies – including those from the US – indicating that the virus could have originated from the US.
China has become the scapegoat for the US and other countries for their failings. They have not taken speedy action to control the spread of the disease despite watching China suffer in January through to March.
What angers the Chinese most is that in some countries, China’s kindness and generosity in extending help is cast with suspicion. It is not reciprocated with gratitude.
Recently, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on the bloc to be ready for a “struggle for influence” with Beijing. Some EU ministers even insinuated that Chinese aid is aimed at undermining European unity, after Italy and Serbia thanked Beijing profusedly for its help.
In response to remarks by a French minister claiming Beijing is waging a global propaganda campaign, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying retorted: “Do they wish to see China standing by idly while witnessing other countries suffer from the severe pandemic and losing lives? Do they think they can do better than China in handling the disease?”
Hua took the opportunity to reiterate China’s belief that only international solidarity, cooperation and mutual respect can overcome the difficulties. Stating Beijing’s objective is to save lives and help the world end the pandemic, she added: “China will not forget the international community had given it valuable support and help at the most difficult time in the country’s fight against Covid-19. Beijing is willing to reciprocate the kindness of others.”
China has said it has extended help to more than 127 countries in their fight against coronavirus.
It has given free medical aid to the world’s least-developed nations, such as Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh and some African countries. Together with its private sector led by Alibaba Foundation and Huawei, it has also donated free medical supplies to almost all Southeast Asian nations and Pakistan. In response to calls for help from the US and traditional American allies like Spain, France and Japan, China has acted without hesitation. However, after getting medical supplies from China, some countries showed their ugly side.
Spain’s action was shocking and crude. After receiving the first batch of supplies in late March, the Spanish government returned 9,000 “quick result” test kits to China because they were “sub-standard”.
The sensibility of the test was only 30%, against the 80% expected. China responded by conducting its own probe. It was discovered that the test kits Spain bought were from an unlicensed Chinese firm, and the test kits the Spanish government ordered from the Chinese government had not arrived. Currently, Spain is among the worst-hit countries in the pandemic that has engulfed the whole globe.
In Asia, Beijing came to the rescue of Japan – one of the earliest countries to donate medical supplies to China in late January. When the Princess Diamond cruise ship docked in Japan, China donated test kits to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan.
In the West, China sent France, Germany, Britain and US the much-needed medical supplies.
Chinese presence is also felt in Iran, the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Liberia, Serbia and India.
But not all news is depressing for the Chinese.
Beijing has been showered with praise and gratitude by countries desperate for help. Many Italians sang Chinese national anthem and hoisted Chinese national flag from their flats after Beijing sent more than 300 experienced doctors to Rome to share their expertise and experience.
In early March, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic – who failed to get help from EU countries – said during a televised address: “European solidarity does not exist. I believe in my brother and friend Xi Jinping.”
Although China had admitted it was not perfect in its initial handling of Covid-19, the World Health Organisation (WHO) still praises Beijing’s response and for its appropriate strategies in battling the virus, which has claimed over 3,300 deaths in the country.
The crisis in China is largely over, while the rest of the world is still busy fighting the Covid-19 war. In recent days, the daily domestic infections in China have fallen to zero or near zero, although it is still dealing with imported cases.
On Wednesday, the 76-day lockdown on Wuhan was lifted with cheer and celebrations.
While China has often emphasized international solidarity and cooperation to end the pandemic, its leaders have indicated the country will face more challenges post Covid-19.
The concerns of its people on social media could be felt in the editorial of Global Times on April 6: “As a major country that was among the firsts to bring the novel coronavirus under control, China must prepare to face an extremely complicated situation.”
China believes the pandemic is unlikely to end quickly and knows this will impact the world order and trigger turmoil, according to the official media of China.
It said: “Nationalists and populists may have more room to fan the flames and China is likely to become the target of certain Western leaders to displace their peoples’ anger and disappointment. China may face much more serious risks in international politics.”
During a key leadership meeting on Wednesday, Xi warned that new challenges have emerged for China’s work resumption and economic/social development. In a statement released after the meeting, Xi called for “preparedness in mind and work” to cope with external environment changes and demanded other Chinese leaders to redouble efforts in economic and social development.
Lest others forget this: China Today is not the Old China during the Ching Dynasty.
The Holy See has thanked recent donations from China to
the Vatican Pharmacy amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, which Chinese
observers say shows communication channels between the two being
unobstructed and beneficial.
By blaming China, Trump is trying to duck responsibility
for his failures. Casting blame on US media is part of the internal
strategy of his administration. Unfortunately, this is not how the US
will solve its problems.
As COVID-19 cases skyrocket in Southern California in the
Unites States, Chinese Americans who saw Chinese people undergo
hardship during the outbreak in China are stepping up to help their
American neighbors as well.
