On February 28, 2020, Ambassador Cui Tiankai’s op-ed was published by USA Today. Here is the full text of the article:
China Has Erected a Great Wall of Disease Control
The Spring Festival is a time for families to get together and celebrate the advent of spring in China. But this year is different. The novel coronavirus outbreak in early 2020 has brought its travel peak season to a halt and put the whole country under strain. A chill is in the air.
Facing a completely new virus, China has responded on an epic scale. From the top leadership to grassroots, from medical professionals to ordinary people, the Chinese people have united and displayed extraordinary fortitude and devotion to fight the disease. In the race with time, a Great Wall of disease control has been put in place quickly, and no pains are spared to save lives.
Since the outbreak, President Xi Jinping has chaired five meetings of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee to map out the disease prevention and control work. Premier Li Keqiang traveled to Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, to offer support to the people fighting on the front line. China has taken the most comprehensive and rigorous measures of disease prevention and control, many of which go well beyond the requirements of the International Health Regulations and the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Wuhan, a vibrant metropolis with 11 million people, has been put under extraordinary and decisive lockdown. In a matter of 10 days each, two well-equipped hospitals have been built up with 2,500 beds to accommodate severely ill patients. Stadiums and convention centers have been transformed into mobile cabin hospitals with tens of thousands of beds for patients with mild symptoms.
Medical professionals, like our everyday heroes, have braved the challenge in a noble spirit of sacrifice. Heart-warming acts are everywhere to see: To save more time for work, women doctors have had their long hair cut and men have shaved their hair off. To save medical supplies, they drink less or even no water so that they will remove the protective suits and use the bathroom less often, as the suits have to be disposed of once taken off. Men and women in uniform, and doctors and nurses from other parts of China, are rushing to Hubei province to extend a helping hand.
Medical supplies factories are back in production from their Spring Festival holidays, and ordinary people are staying home to prevent a possible spread of the virus.
In an unprecedented fight against the disease, many people have stayed upbeat and confident. They shared jokes and punch lines on social media, and a humorous meme with the caption “Finally, couch potatoes are making a contribution to society” is a typical display of their readiness to do their part to prevail over the disease.
As a responsible country, China has also erected a Great Wall of disease prevention for the world. We have been releasing the disease-related information in an open, transparent and responsible manner. We have kept updating the WHO about the latest developments and shared with it and other countries the full sequence of the coronavirus genome.
As WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “The Chinese government is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak,” and “in many ways, China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response.”
Figures speak louder than words. As a result of our forceful measures, the cure rate is steadily rising. The people cured have noticeably outnumbered the fatalities. Canadian epidemiologist Bruce Aylward, who heads the WHO mission team to China, said on Monday that China has rolled out “the most ambitious...agile and aggressive disease containment efforts in history.”
The virus is ruthless, but people are not. In this monumental fight, we have been touched by the acts of compassion and kindness from around the world. We are taking on the fight by ourselves, but we are not fighting alone. Donations and best wishes are pouring into China from all corners of the world, including from many American companies, organizations and people. We deeply appreciate your gesture of solidarity and goodwill, and we take it to our heart. We are ready to repay the kindness shown to us by offering assistance to the countries and regions where the epidemic is taking a toll, and this is what we can and should do.
To our regret, however, while we are fighting the visible virus from nature, we are also under attack from invisible, man-made viruses out there. Some people have put their political agenda above public interests and common sense, and they are desperately spreading “political virus.”
Turning a blind eye to the fact that the Chinese people have been effectively mobilized under the CPC leadership and that the party members are leading the work, these people are provoking ideological biases and clamoring for unnecessary overreactions. While we are doing whatever we can to fight the disease, they are doing whatever they can to stir up panic and even instigate racial discrimination and xenophobia.
At the same time, some conspiracy theorists are disseminating “information virus” by fabricating and spreading rumors, such as unfounded claims that the virus emerged from a Chinese biolab. All this goes against the universal values of morality and humanitarianism.
To be frank, compared with the coronavirus, these invisible viruses are more poisonous and harmful, as they are attacking the leading force of the epidemic control in an attempt to break down our line of defense. They are simply the accomplice of the visible virus we are fighting.
Disease knows no borders. This unexpected epidemic reminds us again how vulnerable mankind is and how essential it is to help each other in the face of difficulties. As important members of this global village and the world’s two biggest economies, China and the United States need to cooperate to address global challenges and problems. The interests of the 1.7 billion Chinese and American people and of the 8 billion world population are at stake.
Amid the epidemic, an encouraging line is circulating on China’s social media: No winter will last forever; no spring will skip its turn. Let’s keep up the fight and stay confident, and together we will celebrate the advent of spring very soon.
2020年2月28日，驻美国大使崔天凯在《今日美国报》发表题为《中国筑起抗疫长城》的署名文章，全文如下：
中国筑起抗疫长城
2020年初，在本该是中国人赶着回家团圆、辞冬迎春的佳节时分，一场新冠肺炎疫情突如其来，长城内外倍感春寒料峭。
面对这一前所未有的全新病毒，中国随之而采取的防控措施也是前所未有的。我们集全国之力，从中央领导到基层，从医务人员到普通老百姓，大家众志成城、团结一心，开启了同时间的赛跑，与病魔的较量，构建了“用生命守护生命”的防疫长城。
在中央，习近平主席5次主持召开中央政治局常委会会议，研究部署疫情防控工作;李克强总理亲赴武汉慰问一线。我们采取最严格、面、最彻底的措施抗击疫情，许多措施甚至都远远超出《国际卫生条例》要求和世界卫生组织(WHO)的建议。
在一线，武汉这座拥有1100万常住人口熙熙攘攘的城市，说封城就封城了;短短10多天，我们建起2座高规格的专门医院，提供2500多个床位集中用于救治重症病患;我们将体育馆改造为方舱医院，提供数万个床位集中收治轻症病患;医护人员舍小家为大家，涌现无数最美“逆行者”，仅仅是为了方便穿防护服，姑娘剪去长发，小伙儿理了“卤蛋头”，他们还刻意少喝水甚至不喝水来减少脱换防护服的次数。在中华大地，数千名解放军参与抗击疫情，万余名医护人员驰援湖北;企业开足马力生产医护用品;普通百姓以宅家蜗居的方式抗疫，还写下“终于到了瘫坐沙发就能为社会作贡献”等段子，用朴素的幽默相互打气，一心打赢这场抗疫的人民战争。
作为负责任大国，中国也在为世界筑起一道抗疫长城。中方始终本着公开、透明、负责任的态度及时面向国内外发布疫情信息，第一时间向WHO通报疫情，同WHO及其他国家分享病毒基因组序列。对此，WHO总干事谭德塞如是评价，中国从发现疫情到公开和应对、以及与WHO分享信息速度之快“为世界设立了新的标杆”。
数据在说话，治愈率不断上升，治愈人数明显超过病死人数。中国—世卫组织新冠肺炎联合专家考察组外方组长、WHO总干事高级顾问艾尔沃德也评价说，面对疫情，“中国采取了可以说是有史以来最恢弘、灵活和积极的防控措施”。
病毒无情人有情，患难之处见真情。我们主要依靠自身力量抗疫，但决不是在孤军奋战，很多国家和人民自发捐来物资、送上祈福，这其中也包括了美国企业、团体和人民，我们感念在心。我们也愿向出现疫情扩散的国家和地区提供力所能及的援助，体现负责任大国担当。
然而，令人痛心的是，我们在抗击自然界的有形病毒时，还不得不面对人造无形病毒的干扰。例如，有人把自己和一小撮人的政治利益置于公益和常识之上，拼命散布“政治病毒”。在中国共产党坚强领导人民抗疫、无数党员在一线奋不顾身战斗之时，他们依然偏执地煽动意识形态偏见，渲染恐慌、诉诸过度反应，甚至挑起种族歧视和排外情绪。另一些人沉浸在阴谋论中无法自拔，制造“信息病毒”，传播谣言，完全违背伦 理和人道主义精神。
坦率说，这些无形病毒同有形病毒相比，毒性更烈、贻害更大。它们企图*抗疫的中坚力量，瓦解抗疫防线，称得上是有形病毒的帮凶。
疫情无国界，它再次提醒我们，作为生活在同一个星球上的渺小人类，我们唯有同舟共济才能驶过风雨。而中美作为国际社会重要成员、全球的两个经济体，更是需要合作应对全球性挑战和问题，这攸关两国17亿人和世界70多亿人的福祉。
中国网络上正广泛流传这一句话，没有一个冬天不可逾越，没有一个春天不会来临。让我们用信心、用努力、用合作去赴和这个春天的约会。
