Establishing ‘Health Silk Road’ through solidarity

By Chang Hua Chinese Ambassador to Iran

Recently, in phone conversations with world leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country is willing to, in cooperation with other countries, play its role in establishment of a ‘Health Silk Road’ in addition to collaborating at an international level in the fight against the spread of contagious diseases.

Now that the international battle against the coronavirus spread has reached a critical and decisive stage, the emphasis put by China’s president on the construction of the ‘Health Silk Road’serves as a guide for the world to step up efforts in the fight against the spread of the virus and helps ensure greater coordination and cooperation among the countries to this end.

In the face of the rapid spread of the new coronavirus across the world, fostering international solidarity in the establishment of the ‘Health Silk Road’ is an issue that gains considerable importance in view of the need for the participation of the entire international community in the battle against the virus.

The ‘Health Silk Road’ is a pivot which opens up new spaces for cooperation in the field of the joint implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In his visit to the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva in 2017, adopting a positive attitude, Xi said, China welcomes the organization’s participation in the joint implementation of the BRI and construction of the ‘Health Silk Road’. In reaction to China’s stance at that time, the then director general of the organization, Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, lauded the country’s guiding capabilities in improving global health security as well as management of and legislation in health sector, expressing hope to be able to expand cooperation with Beijing in the implementation of the BRI. Next, China and the WHO signed an MoU in the field of promoting global health security and development along the terms of the initiative. The signing of the MoU was in fact a move to encourage, more than ever, the countries along the BRI’s route to help establish the ‘Health Silk Road’ through stronger interactions with each other.

Iran is among the important countries along the BRI route. The perspective of cooperation between China and Iran within the framework of implementing the BRI is very broad. China hopes that the two countries would, along with and hand in hand with each other, continue their friendly and empathetic interactions and support one another in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in addition to establishing the ‘Health Silk Road’.

The establishment of the ‘Health Silk Road’, in addition to completing the management and legislation processes in the field of improving the world’s public health, provides a new mental framework for achieving this purpose. The fight against the coronavirus practically proved that no one benefits from pursuing a wall-building policy and it is impossible to turn a blind eye to others’ interests in the modern-day world.

Today, countries will be able to emerge victorious in the battle against the coronavirus only through coordination and unity with each other, having greater foresight and improving the level of their management and legislation in ensuring public health across the world. From the very beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, China has paid special attention to expanding international cooperation in health sector and on this basis, has constantly placed on its agenda promoting transparency, ensuring open flow of information and adopting responsible stances. In addition, China provided, at the earliest time possible, all countries with information about the spread of the highly contagious virus on the one hand, and closely cooperated with the WHO and other states in the battle against the coronavirus on the other.

China supports moves and measures by the United Nations and WHO as well as greater coordination among all countries in the field of policymaking, and, at the same time, backs allocation of more resources for investments in projects aiming to help developing countries, whose health structures suffer from weaknesses, increase their preparedness in the face of such problems and challenges. China’s $20-million donation to the WHO was made within the same framework: Expanding developing countries’ capabilities, helping them minimize their weaknesses and improving their public health structures. Concurrently, China announced that it has sent medical equipment to 82 countries, the WHO and the African Union states, which, together with the $20-million donation, is indicative of its high level of cooperation with other countries in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, the contributions show that China, as a big country, is fulfilling its responsibilities toward creating a global community with a common fate.

Friendly interactions between China and Iran and the supports they have provided each other in the fight against the virus can further highlight the pivotal importance of establishing the ‘Health Silk Road’. In the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak in China, Iran was the first country in the world to openly announce its support for the East Asian state and send its aid to Beijing. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, expressed his appreciation and gratitude for China’s successful and responsible measures as well as transparent stance in the fight against the epidemic which helped immediately break the chain ofcontagion, saying through these measures, China prevented the epidemic not only from getting worse at home, but also from spreading internationally. Likewise, Iranian people expressed their earnest and friendly support through different ways for China’s efforts in the fight against the virus.

On the other hand, concurrent with the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, China expressed its sympathy for Iran. The Chinese government, all related organizations and companies and even ordinary people of the country expressed their support for Iran. The Red Cross Society of China dispatched a group of volunteer medical experts to Iran and practically supported the country in its fight against the virus. The Chinese president also sent a message to his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, expressing his sympathy with Iran and Beijing’s willingness to expand cooperation with Tehran in the battle against the pandemic. He also said he is confident that the Iranian government and people will definitely achieve victory in this fight.

The emergence and spread of coronavirus have had deep impacts on the world. All humans not only have to tackle this challenge at the earliest time possible, but are also required to work toward preparing the ground for ensuring the world’s long-term health through precise analysis of the conditions. In his sympathy message to French President Emmanuel Macron, the Chinese president raised, for the first time, the issue of building a community of common health for mankind, a concept which is in fact an important initiative for the future of humanity. Establishing the ‘Health Silk Road’ can be the path to achieving the goal of building a community of common health for mankind. China hopes to be able to, hand in hand with all other countries, move toward completing the management and legislation processes in enhancing public health across the globe and improve the level of the world’s health on a massive scale.

Under the present circumstances that the coronavirus is spreading across the world, everybody should remember that this situation requires all countries to make the right choice and decision. Protecting people’s lives requires unity, action and joint consultation, construction and reaping of the benefits.