With fire in their soul

China and Uruguay are writing a new chapter for their strategic partnership as they join hands to battle the coronavirus outbreak together

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus is the most serious global public health emergency since the end of World War II. The virus knows no borders, and the pandemic knows no race. In the face of the unexpected and unprecedented pandemic, the Chinese people and people around the world have come to each other's assistance and stood together through thick and thin. Together, we have shown great love and written a new chapter in building a community with a shared future for mankind.

In the face of this public health challenge, the country with the world's largest population and second-largest economy decisively pressed the pause button. The whole country has been united as one, more than 42,000 medical personnel were swiftly transferred to Hubei province to fight against the virus. Two mobile cabin hospitals, with capacity of 2,500 beds, were built within 10 days. And 16 exhibition centers and stadiums were changed into makeshift hospitals within a very short time to provide free tests and treatment. Under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China Central Committee with President Xi Jinping at its core and thanks to the arduous efforts and sacrifice of the whole country and people, major results have been achieved in pandemic prevention and control.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Chinese government has attached great importance to the protection of the health, safety and rights of overseas Chinese citizens. The Chinese embassy in Uruguay has been actively communicating with the local government and ensuring the safety and the rights and interests of Chinese students, teachers, companies and overseas Chinese. We have paid close attention to how the pandemic has unfolded, announced protection knowledge through the embassy's official website, provided face masks for Chinese students, built a consulting platform for Chinese enterprises and solved problems for overseas Chinese in Uruguay.

As early as the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the Uruguayan government donated $100,000 worth of water purification equipment to China. After the COVID-19 outbreak, Uruguay was among the first countries to express sympathy and support to China and donate medical supplies. Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou told Li Ganjie, then minister of ecology and environment and a special envoy of President Xi, who attended the handover ceremony of the Uruguayan president on March 1, that he believed that under the strong leadership of President Xi, China will be able to overcome the pandemic at an early date.

People from the Uruguayan government, parliament, military and media have expressed their solidarity with China through letters, phone calls and videos. The Uruguayan Ministry of Public Health, friendly provinces such as Lavalleja, Paysandu and San Jose, and companies, stepped in to help.

The former deputy foreign minister of Uruguay said that the donations may be insignificant in terms of quantity, but as a gesture of the Uruguayan government and people, they bore the friendship, sympathy and solidarity that the Uruguayan government and people extended to the Chinese government and people.

On March 13, Uruguay reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19 and the government declared a national health emergency. After the outbreak, I met with President Lacalle Pou and Foreign Minister Ernesto Talvi to express my condolences to the Uruguayan government and people.

China sympathized with and reciprocated Uruguay's assistance in the fight against the pandemic. It was the first country to provide Uruguay with anti-pandemic materials, and Chinese local governments such as those of Chongqing municipality, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Hainan, Sichuan and Jilin provinces, and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, along with many enterprises have also provided generous help, writing a great chapter for the China-Uruguay friendship and strategic partnership.

According to statistics available, China has donated a total of 739,600 masks, 4,520 protective suits, 3,120 pairs of goggles, 21,200 testing kits, 1,000 sets of surgical gloves, 1,000 pairs of medical shoe covers, 230 thermometers, a thermal imaging machine for temperature testing, five ventilators and 20 boxes of herbal tea. We have also taken the initiative to share with Uruguay the COVID-19 Diagnosis and Treatment Plan and our related repository, and invited Uruguay to participate in the video exchange meeting among COVID-19 experts from China and Latin America and the Caribbean.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Uruguayan writer and poet Mario Benedetti. In a poem he wrote: "Never give up, when the sun is hidden, when the wind is silent, as long as there is a fire burning in your soul, as long as there is a dream shining in your life." After the outbreak of the virus, the Uruguay government quickly introduced a series of decisive and powerful measures, and the people of the whole country responded positively and cooperated, successfully controlling the spread of the pandemic. China's assistance fully reflects the high level of the bilateral strategic partnership and will certainly help Uruguay overcome the pandemic at a faster pace. It is believed that under the strong leadership of President Lacalle Pou, the Uruguayan people will surely win the final battle against the pandemic.

The author is the Chinese ambassador to Uruguay. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.