China and the U.S. Must Cooperate Against Coronavirus

同舟共济 定克时艰

 

Ambassador Cui Tiankai

驻美国大使崔天凯

6 April 2020

2020年4月6日

 

New York is my favorite American city. I used to live and work there and have been a frequent visitor since I became China’s ambassador to the United States. As Covid-19 continues to sweep across the world, it is sad to see the bustling, sleepless metropolis put on hold. What we are experiencing is a challenge of such magnitude that nationality and ethnicity should be irrelevant.

纽约是我最喜爱的美国城市，我曾在这里工作和生活，担任驻美大使以来也经常往访。而今在新冠肺炎疫情肆虐下，这座欢腾喧嚣的不夜城却被按下了暂停键，我很痛心。此次疫情席卷全球，带来巨大挑战，其影响不分国界和种族。

 

China was hit hard by the pandemic not long ago, so its people can empathize with Americans’ suffering now. We made huge sacrifices to push back the virus; we know how tough the battle is, and will continue to be, here and across the world. We will always remember that in our most difficult days, our friends in so many places – many of them Americans, many of them New Yorkers – offered us a helping hand. We stand ready now to repay their kindness and help them make it through too.

不久前，中国也遭受了疫情的迎头痛击，因此我们对美国人民的苦痛感同身受。我们搏斗过，付出了巨大牺牲，所以深知这里及世界各地抗击疫情的艰难。我们铭记，在最困难的时候世界各地的朋友给了我们慰藉和帮助，其中很多是美国人，很多是纽约人。现在我们也愿真诚回报他们的善意，与他们共渡难关。

 

Let’s acknowledge there has been unpleasant talk between our nations about this disease. But this is not the time for finger-pointing. This is a time for solidarity, collaboration and mutual support.

围绕疫情中美两国间有一些不和谐的声音。但现在不是相互指责的时刻，现在我们需要团结合作、互帮互助。

 

That is why over 100 Chinese public health experts have traveled abroad to save lives. That is why we are sending test kits, protective masks and medical equipment to overrun hospitals in the United States and many other countries. That is why we are sharing expertise and hard-learned lessons with countries seeking information and answers. In his recent phone call with President Trump, President Xi Jinping of China stressed the importance of solidarity between our two countries, and promised to provide assistance to the best of our capability.

正因如此，中国已派出上百名医疗专家驰援他国；正向美国和其他多国亟需医疗物资的医院捐助检测盒、口罩和检测仪器；同有关国家分享抗疫技术和经验。最近，习近平主席应约同特朗普总统通话，强调中美应该团结抗疫，并承诺提供力所能及的支持。

 

China has been providing updates about the disease in a responsible manner, including setting up an online Covid-19 knowledge center that’s available to all countries. Chinese and American health authorities and experts have stayed in close communication to share knowledge and experience.

中方始终负责任地通报疫情信息。我们建立了新冠肺炎疫情网上知识中心面向所有国家开放。中美两国卫生部门和防控专家也一直保持着密切沟通。

 

China is doing whatever it can to support the United States and other countries in need; New York, America’s epicenter of the pandemic, is one of the biggest destinations of China’s assistance. We are facilitating the U.S. government’s purchase of personal protective equipment made in China. Indeed, factories are operating in full swing to fulfill the orders of medical supplies from New York State and other parts of America. China’s provincial and city governments are rushing to help their sister states and cities in America too. And donations are pouring in from the country’s business sector.

中方尽己所能，为包括美国在内的有关国家提供支持，而位于美国疫情“震中”的纽约州正是重点支持对象。目前，中方正协助美政府在华采购抗疫物资。中国企业加班加点，生产、交付纽约与全美采购的医疗物资。中国地方政府向在美国的友好省州提供援助和帮助，企业捐赠更是一马当先。

 

Huawei has donated tens of thousands of personal protective items – including masks, gloves and goggles – to New York and Washington, D.C. In total, Chinese companies have donated 1.5 million masks, 200,000 test kits, 180,000 gloves and many other medical supplies to the United States. Over the weekend, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York expressed his appreciation to the Joseph and Clara Tsai Foundation for donating 1,000 ventilators to New York and the Jack Ma Foundation for providing masks and goggles. Chinese communities in America are also showing their support with generous financial and material donations to their local hospitals and neighborhoods. In the fight against the virus, we stand together with the people of New York and America.

华为向纽约州和华盛顿特区捐赠了数万件防疫物资。中资企业总计已向美捐赠口罩、检测盒、手套及许多其他防疫物资。周末，纽约州州长安德鲁·库莫感谢蔡崇信基金会向纽约州捐赠呼吸机，感谢马云基金会捐赠口罩、护目镜等防疫物资。华侨社团也主动为当地医院和社区捐款捐物。在这场人和病毒的搏斗中，我们和纽约人民、和全美人民站在一起。

 

At a time when solidarity is essential, we need to keep cool heads and clearly say “no” to the folly of fanning racism and xenophobia, and to scapegoating other countries or races. Such acrimony will not only undercut cooperation between our nations, but also sow seeds of suspicion and confrontation that could put our peoples – and even the world – in grave danger from this runaway virus and the economic fallout it is causing.

此时此刻团结至关重要。我们要保持清醒、明辨是非，对那些企图煽动种族主义和歧视仇外、把别国或别的种族当成替罪羊的愚蠢言行说不。因为这样的言行不仅会严重破坏我们当前合作抗疫的努力，也将埋下猜疑甚至对抗的祸根，将我们的人民拖入险境，甚至殃及全球。

 

As the two biggest economies in the world, China and the United States need to lead international efforts in collaborative research into treatments and vaccines, and explore the sharing of pharmaceutical technologies among nations. We need to help countries with underdeveloped medical systems and contribute to better global health governance.

作为世界最大的两个经济体，中美应该引领治疗技术和疫苗研发国际攻关合作，充分探讨治疗药物技术共享，联手帮助缺乏医疗条件的国家，推动完善全球卫生治理。

 

We must also enhance our coordination of macroeconomic policy to stabilize markets; ensure growth and people’s livelihoods; and keep the global industrial and supply chains open, stable and secure. This was the core message delivered by President Xi during the virtual Group of 20 summit on Covid-19 late last month. It is also an integral part of the notion that countries belong to a global community with a shared future.

此外，我们还要加强宏观经济政策协调，稳市场、保增长、保民生，确保全球产业链和供应链开放、稳定、安全。这正是习近平主席在日前举行的二十国集团领导人应对新冠肺炎特别峰会上所提倡议的核心意涵，也是推动构建人类命运共同体的应有之义。

 

I don’t doubt for a moment that New York will survive this crisis. I recently read that New Yorkers have taken to clapping from their balconies and windows for the health care workers who are battling on the front lines against the pandemic. I am deeply moved by such scenes of solidarity, for they speak to people’s love and courage, and to the city’s enduring strength. They are a ray of hope in this dark time of hardship.

我始终坚信，我和无数人喜爱的纽约能挺得住、熬过去。前几天，纽约市民自发相约在各自阳台、窗台为奋斗在抗疫一线的医护人员鼓掌。这展示团结的一幕让我深受感动，我在掌声中听见了人们的爱与勇气，听到了这座城市的坚强和韧性，这是当下艰难时刻里的希望和光明。

 

I look forward to my next trip to New York, when I will once again roam its vibrant avenues, my eyes open for fresh signs of resilience and resolve. I also plan to see the Broadway production of The Lion King, a show about love, courage and hope. I believe this day is not too far away.

我期待着下次去纽约，逛一逛充满爱和生机的街巷，去百老汇再看一场歌颂爱、勇气与希望的音乐剧《狮子王》。相信这一天很快会到来！