BEIJING, March 10 -- Chinese Defense Spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian, also spokesperson for the delegation of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police (PAP) Force at the fifth session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), received an interview on March 9 in which he introduced and summarized the Chinese military’s participation in international anti-pandemic cooperation since COVID-19 broke out.
Wu pointed out that in early 2020, when China was at the height of fighting the pandemic, the defense departments and militaries of many foreign countries lent a helping hand to China. The defense and military leaders of more than 20 countries, including Pakistan, Belarus and Cambodia, sent letters of support, and the defense and military authorities of countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Mongolia, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia donated anti-pandemic emergency supplies and funds. Besides, the military attachés of foreign embassies in Beijing as well as foreign students in China all expressed their support and best wishes through videos and letters.
Wu said, to implement Chinese President Xi Jinping’s important declaration on making China’s COVID-19 vaccines a global public good, the Chinese military has so far provided vaccine aid to the militaries of more than 30 countries, including Pakistan, Cambodia, Mongolia, Equatorial Guinea, Tunisia, Lebanon, Hungary, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Bolivia. It has also carried out anti-pandemic cooperation with the militaries of over 50 countries, in the form of providing anti-pandemic supplies, sending military medical expert teams, and holding experience-sharing video meetings. By fulfilling its international obligations and providing public security products during the pandemic, the Chinese military’s pragmatic measures have been highly recognized and widely welcomed by the international community.
The virus recognizes no borders and the pandemic hits all without differentiation. Solidarity and cooperation is the most powerful weapon to defeat them. The Chinese military will continue to strengthen the friendly cooperation with foreign defense departments and troops, and make positive contributions to building a community of common health for mankind, said Wu Qian.