A staff member of the entry-exit frontier defence inspection station inspects the plane carrying epidemic prevention materials for Cambodia at the Yiwu International Airport in Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 27, 2020. (Photo by Li Jinliang/Xinhua)
A friend in need is a friend indeed. After China made it through the most difficult period, it rushed to the aid of others, including its neighbors, as the pandemic spread to ASEAN member states, with total confirmed cases now exceeding 10,000.
by Xinhua writer Mao Pengfei
PHNOM PENH, April 3 (Xinhua) -- As neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries are tightly interlocked and closely working together in the face of COVID-19.
"United we stand, divided we fall," says a Cambodian proverb. ASEAN countries have been standing firmly with China from the very beginning of the viral outbreak.
When China was facing its most difficult time in fighting the epidemic, ASEAN member states donated money and anti-epidemic materials to China; leaders of ASEAN countries expressed, through letters, phone calls and visits, their sympathies to China and their resolve to jointly defeat COVID-19.
Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen paid a special visit to Beijing on Feb. 5, which, as Chinese President Xi Jinping put it, demonstrated the unbreakable friendship and mutual trust between the two countries and showcased the essence of building a community with a shared future.
A friend in need is a friend indeed. After China made it through the most difficult period, it rushed to the aid of others, including its neighbors, as the pandemic spread to ASEAN member states, with total confirmed cases now exceeding 10,000.
Chinese medical experts visit a quarantine in Sihanoukville city in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia, March 28, 2020. (Photo by Chen Duncai/Xinhua)
By offering necessary medical supplies, sharing anti-epidemic experience and dispatching expert teams, China is repaying the kindness and support of its ASEAN friends.
Chinese medical experts have arrived in Cambodia and Laos to fight side by side with local medical teams. Chinese donations of test kits, masks and protective suits, among other medical supplies, have kept flowing into the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Thailand.
The two sides also held the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Coronavirus Disease, exploring ways to cope with the epidemic, and delivering a signal to the world that China and ASEAN would join hands to fight the disease, safeguard the health of all countries and promote regional health security.
A Chinese medical team poses for a group photo with Lao representatives after handing over donated medical materials to the Lao National Center for Laboratory and Epidemiology in Vientiane, Laos, March 30, 2020. (Photo by Yang Lunjiao/Xinhua)
The joint fight against COVID-19 bonds China and ASEAN closer together, fostering a stronger synergy in building a community of common health.
COVID-19 represents a common challenge for all countries. As Xi pointed out, viruses know no national boundaries or races, and only by working together can mankind win the battle against them. ■
