Chinese
State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the BRICS Foreign
Ministers’ Extraordinary Conference on COVID-19 on April 28 in Beijing.
Wang
Yi stressed that the BRICS countries must support UN bodies in playing their
due roles in fighting COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) is a
central force in coordinating the global response, and is indispensable for
helping developing countries, especially our African brothers and sisters, in
fighting the disease. Supporting the WHO helps us save more lives, treat more
patients; it enables a more effective response against the virus and is
conducive to pooling global strength. At a crucial moment in humanity’s joint
fight against the virus, any attempt to undercut the WHO’s authority and
obstruct its role will be most ill-timed and will find no support in the
international community.
Wang
Yi said on top of paying its assessed contributions to the WHO on time and in
full, China donated US$20 million to the WHO, and this was followed by another
donation of US$30 million announced just a few days ago. ‘We will also provide
financial support to the UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan, and do
everything within our capacity to lessen the debt burden on African countries
and assist them in boosting anti-epidemic capacity.’
In
view of the weaknesses and inadequacies exposed during this crisis, we also
need to enhance global public health governance, make it a higher priority on
the international agenda, and work together to build a community of health for
all.
