BEIJING, Jan. 29 -- China's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying shared a story about international fight against COVID-19 on her twitter yesterday, which was originally told by Senior Colonel Wu Qian, the Spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, on a regular press conference on January 28.
Wu introduced the Chinese military's international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic on the conference and then shared a moving story about a Syrian military doctor, Tareq.
According to Wu, Major Tareq Muhammad is a Syrian military doctor who previously studied clinical medicine in the Chinese PLA Army Medical University in 2018. After graduation in 2020, he returned to Syria and worked as a Deputy Director of the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology in a military hospital in Damascus.
During the pandemic, Dr. Muhammad translated the knowledge he learned in China about pandemic control and prevention into Arabic and helped the hospital improve COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment. Besides, he used Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatment in pandemic control and shared TCM prevention means through social media, which have achieved good results. His story was also covered by local media and got many thumbs-up on the internet.
It was the first time for the spokespersons of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense to jointly promote a foreign military friend. The meaning behind it is exactly what Senior Colonel Wu Qian said at the press conference that Dr. Muhammad’s story was a microcosm of the Chinese military’s participation in global anti-pandemic cooperation. The Chinese military will continue to shoulder its international obligations with concrete efforts and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.