Virus fight sets things right

Leading Italian American writer and communications specialist lauds China's anti-pandemic success and growing global role of the country under CPC governance model, Alexis Hooi reports.

Editor's note: Many people from overseas have made a contribution to China's development over the years. As China celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, China Daily looks at the lives and contributions of these friends from afar, who've not only witnessed but also participated in the country's transformation over the years.

Early last year, at the height of fears about the coronavirus pandemic, Italian American writer Mario Cavolo decided the "vicious, political, xenophobic, racist attacks" targeting China needed to stop.

His social media post comparing the COVID-19 backlash with the H1N1 flu outbreak in the United States a decade ago quickly went viral, with millions of viewers worldwide agreeing that the smearing of China despite its success in fighting the coronavirus pandemic was grossly unfair.

The events spurred Cavolo, a leading China expert, M Communications Group CEO and senior fellow at the Beijing-based think tank Center for China and Globalization, to write his third book on the country by focusing on its anti-pandemic achievements in the months that followed.

The book is titled Something's Not Right Here Folks, just like his impactful post.

"It's not an economic analysis of China. It's not a continuation of my previous books on China or a geopolitical book. It's a book full of stories and an analysis of what happened from January to June, to commemorate the experience that we all went through here in China. And the Chinese people and the Chinese government have a lot to be proud of," says Cavolo, who has lived in the country for two decades.

He says China has achieved getting the pandemic under control. "We see other countries are having such a difficult time doing the same thing. So it's a testament to China."

The success in fighting COVID-19 is itself one of the latest major examples of the benefits of a governance system under the Communist Party of China, which marks its centenary this year, Cavolo says.