[Explanation] In response to individual foreign politicians calling the new crown pneumonia epidemic "Chinese virus" recently, Xing Haiming, Chinese ambassador to South Korea, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Agency that stigmatizing the epidemic was "immoral and not responsible".
[Concurrent] Xing Haiming, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea
Some foreign politicians or media have referred to the new crown virus as "Chinese virus" and "new crown pneumonia" as "Wuhan pneumonia." It is not moral or responsible to stigmatize China and the Chinese. Unspeakable political purpose. I firmly oppose this and condemn it.
[Explanation] COVID-19 is the official name given to this virus by WHO. The WHO has repeatedly stated that it opposes linking any virus to specific countries, regions, races, etc., and opposes the use of viruses for stigma.
[Concurrent] Xing Haiming, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea
China has always kept the World Health Organization and relevant countries informed of the epidemic situation in an open, transparent and responsible manner. I don't know where the so-called "China's lack of openness and transparency in sharing of epidemic information leads to delay in epidemic prevention and control in other countries" came from.
In the past two months or so, the Chinese people have united as one and united their minds to fight against the epidemic, and have made important contributions to the worldwide fight against the epidemic, which has been fully affirmed, highly appraised and universally praised by the international community.
[Explanation] The WHO has recently stated that it is precisely South Korea, Singapore and other countries that have used China's precious time for the world and taken necessary measures to control the spread of the epidemic.
[Concurrent] Xing Haiming, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea
Everyone should respect facts and science, and stop taking the wrong way of politicizing and stigmatizing the epidemic. Utilizing the epidemic to discredit other countries is not only of no help to the national defense epidemic, it is also not conducive to promoting the international community's anti-epidemic cooperation.
[Explanation] The personnel exchanges between China and South Korea are frequent, with more than 900,000 overseas Chinese in South Korea. In response to overseas Chinese returning to China and failing to comply with epidemic prevention regulations, Xing Haiming believes that this is a rare phenomenon.
[Concurrent] Xing Haiming, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea
As of now, none of the imported cases in China has come from South Korea. It can be seen that the joint prevention and control between China and South Korea is doing very well. At present, there are more than 900,000 overseas Chinese in South Korea, and most of them live in South Korea for a long time.
Because there are not many people planning to return to the country due to the epidemic situation, they are basically willing to stay in the local area to continue their normal work, life, and study, and to cooperate with the various preventive measures adopted by the South Korean government. There is no large-scale return to the country.
[Explanation] When the epidemic situation in China was severe, overseas Chinese in Korea donated money and supplies to their home country. After the outbreak in South Korea intensified, overseas Chinese in South Korea acted in support of the "second hometown" to fight the epidemic. Xing Haiming said that this is a act of great love to promote friendly relations between China and South Korea. In order to protect the normal life of overseas Chinese, the Chinese embassy in South Korea has also opened a "24-hour wartime model" to promptly handle cases of insurance assistance during the epidemic, such as assisting tourists from Korea and Hubei to return to Wuhan on a chartered Korean flight.
[Concurrent] Xing Haiming, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea
At present, China's epidemic prevention and control has achieved phased victories, and South Korea's epidemic development has also slowed significantly. China and South Korea have jointly established an effective model of transnational epidemic prevention cooperation for the international community. China and South Korea took the lead in setting up a joint mechanism for joint prevention and control of the epidemic, led by the foreign affairs department and involving the health, education, customs, immigration, civil aviation and other departments.
[Explanation] During the epidemic, the joint efforts of China and South Korea to fight the epidemic reflected the neighbourhood of waiting and helping, leaving a lot of good news. Xing Haiming said that efforts to fight the epidemic will further deepen bilateral cooperation.
[Concurrent] Xing Haiming, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea
the sun is always behind the storm. I believe that the joint efforts of China and South Korea to fight the epidemic will be transformed into a strong momentum for promoting traditional friendship and deepening pragmatic cooperation. We look forward to the new vitality of China-ROK relations after the epidemic, and a brighter and brighter tomorrow for the respective development of the two countries and the great development of bilateral relations.
Reporter Zeng Jun reported from Seoul, South Korea
Editor-in-chief: [Liu Xian]