(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) Interview with the ICRC Chairman ’s Special Envoy for China Affairs: "Only everyone is safe, all human beings can be safe"

  China News Service, Beijing, May 4 Question: Interview with the ICRC Chairman ’s Special Envoy for China Affairs: "Only everyone is safe, all human beings can be safe"

  China News Agency reporter Diao Haiyang

  "Only every one of us is safe, all humans can be safe. The fight against the new crown virus is a battle we must win." ICRC Chairman Jacques Pellet, Special Envoy for China Affairs and Director of the East Asia Regional Office A few days ago, in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China News Service, it was stated that countries should work together to combat the new crown epidemic, and at the same time increase support for relevant international organizations to make them better function.

Information map of Bai Liang, Chairman of the ICRC, Special Envoy for China Affairs and Director of the East Asia Regional Office. Photo courtesy of interviewees

Affirm that China's anti-epidemic efforts "have worked hard"

  As a high-level ICRC official in China, Bai Liang has witnessed the Chinese anti-epidemic process in the past few months. From Wuhan's "closing the city" to the national epidemic prevention and control achieved staged results, Bai Liang said "China has worked hard for months."

  He said that China has now entered the next stage-the "buffer period", which is very good news. He said, "We would like to pay special tribute to all those involved in the first-line anti-epidemic."

  Bai Liang said that the new crown epidemic is a global crisis. If you want to overcome this crisis, you need global cooperation. He said that China provided various support to other countries during the epidemic, such as providing anti-epidemic materials to many countries and sending medical expert groups to many countries. Chinese people also participate in foreign aid operations, such as the Ma Yun Charity Foundation. He said, "These actions vividly explain what is meant by cross-border cooperation and what is a global war epidemic."

Running for the global fight against the epidemic

  Bai Liang said that during the epidemic, the ICRC provided 500,000 Swiss francs of financial support to the Chinese Red Cross, and has always maintained communication and dialogue with the Chinese National Health and Health Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The East Asia Regional Office maintains close contact with organizations such as the Chinese Red Cross, the Korean Red Cross, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, working together to fight the epidemic.

  Bai Liang said, "For us, a very important task is to purchase medical supplies and equipment from China to support the ICRC's work on a global scale." According to him, the East Asia Regional Office plans to purchase Masks and other personal protective equipment priced at 24 million Swiss francs will be shipped to more than 85 countries one after another to support local anti-epidemic.

  Bai Liang said that the first batch of anti-epidemic materials will be shipped to Bangladesh, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Libya.

Call on countries to help countries in war-torn areas

  In the interview, Bai Liang also introduced the work of the ICRC in the world during the epidemic, especially in war-torn areas. He said that affected by the armed conflict, the infrastructure and medical systems of countries in war-torn areas are generally poor, and the health problems of the people are seriously threatened. What is more worrying is that when the epidemic comes, factors such as limited detection capacity and difficulty in tracking patients have led to increased pressure on prevention and control in these countries.

  He said that it is not yet possible to see how much the fresh crown epidemic will affect countries in war-torn regions. But it is worth noting that this pandemic has caused serious global impacts in health, economy, social life and other fields.

  Bai Liang said that in order to better help countries in war-torn areas, the ICRC has begun to integrate the ongoing projects in various countries with the local epidemic situation. He said, "We are providing humanitarian assistance to African countries such as Mali, South Sudan and Nigeria, which is vital to saving lives. At the same time, we continue to help hospitals in these countries to improve their outbreak prevention and control capabilities."

  As a staff member of an international organization, Bai Liang called on all countries and humanitarian agencies to immediately take coordinated action. He said, "In order to avoid the huge damage to countries in war-torn areas by the new crown epidemic, countries should act immediately to help countries in war-torn areas fight the epidemic." (End)