Chris Michael got an interesting interview from the Chinese ambassador to Cyprus, LIU Yantao, and gives it to the “Citizen”.
Currently, the The international community is paying close attention to China's “dynamic liquidation of Covid” policy. Can you give us some details about this policy?
Κατ & # 8217; First of all, I would like to point out that the “dynamic liquidation of Covid” policy is a scientific choice of the Chinese government, based on its own national circumstances. This policy is not an absolute goal of clearing up the number of cases, but instead emphasizes active, accurate, fast and flexible pandemic control and focuses on prevention. In a dynamic and balanced process, the health of the people is protected, and the impact on social and economic development is reduced.
In general, Covid's “dynamic liquidation” policy reflects the Chinese government's people-oriented philosophy, which is integrated into the following three aspects:
The first is to make every effort to protect the health and lives of the people. In the fight against the virus, life is the highest human right. China is a populous country with a population of 1.4 billion and faces more severe pressures on pandemic prevention and control than European countries. If China relaxes its prevention and control measures without a scientific assessment, it is very likely that the number of cases will increase exponentially in the short term, and then become the so-called “death tsunami” that threatens the lives of the Chinese people. According to a report by Fudan University published in the British journal Nature-Medicine, if China abandons Covid's “dynamic liquidation” policy, 120 million new cases could be added in May-July, resulting in more than 1.5 million deaths. . An article in The Lancet reported that during the Covid pandemic, the number of excessive deaths in the world was estimated at 18.2 million and the excessive mortality rate was 120 per 100,000 people. However, since China has insisted on Covid's “dynamic liquidation” policy, its excessive mortality rate is only 0.6 per 100,000 people. According to a recent WHO report, the infection rate in Europe is 29%, and 24% in the United States, while in China it is only 0.1%. The policy can potentially avoid the hundreds of millions of infected cases and further variants of the virus, which is a sign of responsibility to the international community.
The second is to avoid excessive use of medical resources. Research shows that, in addition to vaccination rates, the distribution of medical resources also determines the size of deaths. Given the huge
China’s large population and large aging group, if prevention and control measures need to be relaxed, more clinics and community health centers are needed to screen patients with mild symptoms, and at the same time more ICU beds to treat critically ill patients, which of course poses enormous challenges for China's current healthcare system. The British Daily Telegraph pointed out that strict prevention and control can ensure the proper functioning of the medical and health system before the creation of the immune barrier of the herd. Italy, the United States and even Cyprus have gone through a serious case where the health system was under a heavy burden and faced severe shortages of medical equipment and personnel during the pandemic. Chinese politics is a scientific choice based not only on international experience of prevention and control, but also on the basic state of China's own healthcare system.
The third is a comprehensive assessment of the general state of society, the economy and public opinion. Covid's “dynamic clean-up” policy and a series of anti-epidemic measures adopted by China are tantamount to a huge “insurance” for China's 1.4 billion people to deal with uncertainties created by the mutation and spread of the virus. There is no one who can sit and watch the pandemic spread throughout the country on a large scale and cause various social and livelihood problems without taking action. Some so-called scholars have urged China to abandon its “dynamic liquidation of Covid” policy. If the Chinese government follows their advice, as the number of cases and deaths in China increases, the same group of people may turn to accusing the Chinese government of being irresponsible and ignoring the lives of the people. They do not care about the life and health of the Chinese people, nor about the economic and social development of China, nor about the prosperity and freedom of the Chinese people, but they only want to see the arrival of China's “Chernobyl moment”.
The policy is not the ultimate goal of zero cases, but its goal is to control the pandemic as soon as possible, at the lowest social cost, maximize the protection of life and health of the people and preserve normal production and living. Politics is gaining the understanding and support of the Chinese people. Many people have confidence in the government's prevention measures and remain optimistic about the prospects of fighting the pandemic. When the Tianjin pandemic broke out in January this year, more than 10 million people were sampled in just 4.5 hours, and the Lockdown area was precise and specific to each building. China has accumulated a set of effective prevention and control measures through rich practices, which it is constantly optimizing and upgrading according to the new pandemic situation. This not only allows the country's infection rate and mortality rate to be the lowest in the world, but also ensures that in most parts of China, the vast majority of people live and work normally.
Following the shock of the pandemic, China's undisputed achievements and recent efforts to prevent and control the spread of the pandemic in Shanghai and Beijing have demonstrated the scientific validity of the “dynamic cleanup”.
Faced with the new pandemic situation, what do you think will be China's economic growth prospects?
It must be acknowledged that the Chinese economy is indeed facing the triple pressure of “demand shrinkage, supply shock and weakening expectations”. But we should also see that China is the only major economy in the world that achieved positive growth in 2020 and its GDP in 2021 increased by 8.1% compared to the previous year, as the two-year average growth rate was 5 , 1%. GDP grew by 4.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022. This situation demonstrated that the “dynamic clearing of Covid”, in an appropriate way, balances the relationship between pandemic prevention and control and China's economic growth. .
Although China's services industry output index and overall consumer goods retail sales declined somewhat in April, the pandemic disruption will not change the trend of China's stable economy & # 8211; With the support of various policies, the national economy will recover faster and achieve stabilization and better growth. In April, China's Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 8%, indicating that downward price pressures are gradually easing, and that pandemic-induced downtime and logistics are weakening.
In order to further strengthen China's economy, the government has developed a policy package aimed at stabilizing supply, expanding demand and consolidating expectations. This policy package includes a total of 33 measures, covering six key areas, such as finance, finance, consumption, supply chain, energy and human welfare, etc., promoting the stability of China's economy in the macro-level and protecting market entities, workforce (employment), specific vulnerable group at the micro level. Policies are strong and targeted to accelerate the recovery of the national economy.
In general, the fundamental size of China's economy remains stable and healthy in the long run, the factors that support high-quality growth have not changed, and the characteristics of resilience, great potential, and large space have not changed.
What do you think about the impact of the pandemic on the Chinese economy?
In view of the effects of the pandemic, any prevention and control measures will inevitably have some impact on the economy and
society, but compared to priceless and irreversible lives, these costs are significant and temporary. The pandemic and the virus are the main culprits driving the economy. Only by controlling the spread of the pandemic can the sustainable and healthy growth of the economy be ensured.
I believe that the current risk of a pandemic in China is under control and the Chinese economy will gradually get rid of the effects of the pandemic. Several Western media outlets, including the British Daily Telegraph, predict that by the autumn of 2022, China is expected to completely shake off the impact of the pandemic and the economy will return to normal and achieve rapid growth. China's current per capita GDP has exceeded US $ 10,000 and has a huge market advantage over its huge population of 1.4 billion. Therefore, the temporary impact of the pandemic will not change the long-term positive trend of economic growth. China's Covid Dynamic Liquidation Policy protects the security of the global supply chain and the industrial chain. China's future economic growth will also lead to a further recovery of the world economy and of course the international community can benefit from China's economy. While China's policy of “dynamic liquidation of Covid” creates a safer and more stable environment for itself, it also substantially boosts the confidence of long-term investors and brings greater confidence to the global economy.
How do you assess the latest actions of Turkey in the enclave of Varos?
China is closely monitoring developments in Varosya and argues that recent further opening measures taken by stakeholders violate Security Council resolutions and increase tensions. Both the Presidential Security Council statement on Varosha and the resolution on the renewal of UNFICYP's mandate explicitly call on the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot leaders to immediately withdraw all unilateral action taken since October 2020, he added. This is China's consistent position as well as the expectation of the international community at large. As a permanent member of the Security Council, China strongly supports UN jurisdiction and argues that United Nations resolutions on the Cyprus issue must be fully respected and implemented.
China insists that the international community will should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cyprus, try to encourage stakeholders to reduce differences through dialogue, consultation and confidence-building measures in the context of Security Council resolutions on a conditions and build the conditions for the
resumption of North-South negotiations. In order to maintain lasting peace and stability in Cyprus and throughout the region, stakeholders must fully respect international law and avoid any unilateral action that may increase tensions and controversy, which could undermine efforts to resumption of talks on the Cyprus issue.
* The interview was published in “Politis” on Sunday, June 26, 2022
