Xi Jinping said China will set up research centers to deal with Corona virus
President Xi Jinping said China will set up a number of national clinical research centers to help prevent the outbreak of Corona virus, Reuters quoted Chinese state television as saying on March 2. Xi added that biosecurity is an important part of national security, and China should set up national reserves of vaccines to prepare for prevention.
Speaking during visits to a number of medical institutes in Beijing, Xi said great efforts were needed to win the fight against Covid-19, and China had to provide technology support to the campaign.
Xi emphasized that doing everything possible to save lives of more patients remains a top priority.
The Chinese president added that research and development of medical devices, pharmaceuticals and clinical treatment must be strengthened to improve the effectiveness of cure rates and reduce mortality.
A new strain of corona virus appeared in Wuhan in late 2019. Since then, the virus has infected more than 86,500 people, mostly in China and mostly in Hubei. The total number of confirmed cases across China is more than 80,000, with nearly 3,000 deaths.
“China needs to make efforts to overcome the bottlenecks of developing technical apparatus and independently developing advanced medical devices,” Xi said.
“The country will combine the use of Western medicines and traditional Chinese medicine in this battle,” Xi added.
According to Xi, China will have core technology with independent intellectual property rights in making products and applications to protect human health and lives in the fight against corona viruses.
Xi said he attaches great importance to mental health, for those who have recovered, those who have lost loved ones and those who have been separated from their families for a long time.
The virus is thought to have originated in a wildlife market in Wuhan, prompting China to ban illegal trade and poaching of wildlife.
“We must be determined to end the bad habit of eating wild animals and promoting a civilized, healthy, green and environmentally-friendly lifestyle,” he added.
Xi Jinping once said that he always directed and personally arranged China’s epidemic prevention work.
However, up to now, he has never been to Wuhan personally – the source of the disease and also the most serious epidemic site, which has also sparked speculation.
Since Jan 20, Xi first issued a “directive” to prevent and control the epidemic, and ordered to block Wuhan on Jan 23. On Jan 25, Xi Jinping convened the first “anti-epidemic” Politburo Standing Committee meeting, at which he took a rare action to allow Mr. Li Keqiang to assume the position of Head of the Response Committee against the disease.
In Xi Jinping’s era, he is heading more than 10 Subcommittees as the way he controls power in various fields.
However, he left the head of this Subcommittee on Disease Prevention to Mr. Li Keqiang.
After two days, Mr. Li Keqiang appeared in the serious epidemic area – Wuhan, and Mr. Xi Jinping chose again behind the command. Therefore also makes foreign countries more questionable.
On Jan 28, Xi Jinping welcomed the WHO Director-General in Beijing, Xi said, “I have always personally directed and arranged” the prevention and control of the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic.
On Feb 10, Beijing officially “sealed off the city,” at that time, the Beijing epidemic began to become serious, threatening the Chinese leadership.
On Feb 10, escorted by Beijing’s party leader and mayor, Xi Jinping went to a number of residential areas and the Centers for Disease Control to inspect the disease prevention and control; Xi also spoke on the video with frontline staff who are preventing the epidemic in Wuhan in Hubei province.
According to Chinese state media, Xi Jinping in the afternoon of the same day went to the An Hoa Ly subregion on An Trinh Street in Chaoyang District to “survey and direct” the prevention .
This is also the first time Xi Jinping has been in a residential area since China mainland broke out of Covid-19.
Ho Binh, Honorary Editor of Beijing Spring Magazine, also said that Xi Jinping doesn’t go to Wuhan because of safety considerations. In addition to being afraid of spreading the virus, he also worried about his own safety, many of the officials and the people of Wuhan were dissatisfied with him, and unfortunately, what happened would be very troublesome.
President Xi Jinping has gathered great power, building himself into the nucleus of the Chinese Communist Party, if the virus leads to political upheaval, then the risk he faces will probably be greater.
A US-based scholar has summarized 5 possible causes for Xi’s failure to visit Wuhan with VOA:
- (1) Xi Jinping could be ill, due to careful calculations, at the recommendation of his doctor and advisory team, so he decided not to go to Wuhan to avoid becoming infected;
- (2) Showing his strategic force, can also be said as stubbornness manifested. With the epidemic becoming increasingly difficult, perhaps he initially planned to go to Wuhan, but foreign criticism on the contrary made him think that this kind of pressure could not be overcome;
- (3) Mr. Li Keqiang has already represented him in Wuhan, so it is redundant;
- (4) He felt that at this critical time, it was necessary to hold in Beijing to personally arrange and direct this “campaign,” to control the mass;
- (5) Mr. Xi Jinping can think of waiting after the disease situation in Wuhan has improved and then go.
China’s official Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) fell to a record low of 35.7 in Feb from 50.0 in Jan, the National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday, much lower than that.
This index shows the first official overall picture of the Chinese economy, since the corona virus outbreak.
The data heralded a virus disruption that could last for the first quarter of 2020 because the disease has caused authorities to issue widespread travel restrictions and public health measures. Strict that has crippled economic activity.
A sub-index of manufacturing activity plummeted to 27.8 in Feb from 51.3 in Jan, while the new order index dropped to 29.3, down from 51.4 a month ago. there.
New export orders received by Chinese manufacturers also fell at the fastest pace in years, with the National Bureau of Statistics warning of pressure on exporters from delayed shipments and canceled orders.
Analysts are warning that the spread of corona virus to other countries will impact the global supply chain and limit the recovery for Chinese manufacturers.
Faced with a storm of anger from people for their mistakes, the Chinese Communist Party is trying to use propaganda tactics, seeking to restore its image to the public by building up images. “A leader of the world” in the fight against viruses.
China and Vietnam are both countries still applying Communist authoritarianism, where there is no media and free speech, unexpected disasters for the people of the two countries also come from here and lives of millions of people are threatened.
Hoang Lan from Ha Noi – Thoibao.de (Translated)
