China’s Foreign Ministry assured the world on Monday that the Communist Party had “full confidence” in its ability to keep the world safe from a novel coronavirus that has killed 82 people and counting at press time.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying asserted, “we have full confidence that we can get it under control soon” in remarks Monday, made in response to a statement of support from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Hua’s “full confidence” comes as China enters a second week of handling the coronavirus, which originated in the regional capital of Wuhan and has infected nearly 3,000 people so far. Partially as a result of expected travel for the Lunar New Year holiday, which occurred this weekend, five million people left Wuhan before the city’s administrations instituted a city-wide lockdown, banning free entry and exit from the city. Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America have all documented patients carrying the new virus.
At press time, the World Health Organization (WHO), citing mostly Chinese statistics, has tallied 2,883 cases of the coronavirus and 82 deaths, all within China. Most cases occurred within Hubei province, where Wuhan is located.
The Foreign Ministry’s assurances also occurred as new details regarding Beijing’s response to what has become a nationwide public health crisis raised questions regarding how seriously the Communist Party took the threat. Reports citing locals in Wuhan indicate that residents were aware of a respiratory illness in the city for at least a month; Chinese officials told the WHO about the outbreak in December and shut down the wild meat market suspected of bringing the virus into the city on January 1, but only announced that they had identified a new coronavirus on January 20.
“State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has conveyed an oral message to Foreign Minister Zarif to express thanks to the Iranian side,” Hua said on Monday, referring to the Iranian foreign minister, before using the opportunity of his well-wishing to assert that Beijing has the situation contained.
“At present, the Chinese government is taking resolute and forceful measures to conduct scientific and effective prevention and control of the epidemic, and maintaining close cooperation with the World Health Organization and other international partners,” Hua said. “We are fully confident that the outbreak will be brought under control and defeated as soon as possible.”
Hua’s remarks echo the state propaganda newspaper Global Times insisting there was “no need to panic” this month before officials confirmed that a never-before-seen, highly contagious virus had begun spreading in one of the world’s largest cities during Asia’s peak travel season. It also appears to contradict the image painted by Wuhan Mayor Zhou Xianwang during a press conference Sunday in which he accepted blame for being secretive about the nature of the virus, but also shifted blame to Beijing, insisting that he could not go public with certain information if the Communist Party’s high-ranking officials did not grant permission, and he had not received it.
“On one hand, we did not reveal [information] in time; on the other, we did not use effective information to improve our work to a satisfactory level,” Zhou said. “Regarding the untimely disclosure, [I] hope everyone can understand. [Coronavirus] is a contagious disease. Contagious diseases have relevant law and information needs to be disclosed according to law.”
Zhou also said that 5 million people had left Wuhan in the week before he instituted a travel ban for residents, thousands of which are believed to have left the country, and offered to resign. Thailand, Singapore, and Japan were the most popular international travel spots, the South China Morning Post reported.
In what can largely be considered a vote of no confidence against Zhou, Beijing deployed federal government resources to flood Wuhan over the weekend. Beijing is sending large shipments of food, hygienic masks, and other items into Wuhan to keep the city stocked during the current lockdown, in which authorities have banned all air, train, and road traffic. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) deployed troops into the city to help health officials distribute care in an organized manner.
Beijing has also announced the rapid construction of an entirely new hospital in Wuhan that will allegedly hold 1,000 beds to help isolate patients and stop the spread. Communist Party authorities claim the full hospital will be built by early next week and that the first building in the complex was completed on Monday. The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Party, published an image it implied was of the new building, though some noted it appeared to be an old photo recycled by Chinese media.
#Update: After 16 hours of construction, the 1st building of Huoshenshan Hospital in #Wuhan has completed on Monday. The hospital is expected to be handed over to the military on Feb 2 upon completion and put into use for #coronavirus patients. pic.twitter.com/ino3U8vW0H
— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) January 27, 2020
China documented a 40 percent increase in the number of cases from Sunday to Monday, and authorities warned that the virus could incubate for 14 days and be contagious even when a person does not show symptoms.
Despite the evidence of Chinese officials failing to adequately respond to the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) – which bans Taiwan from any participation at China’s behest – has praised the Communist Party for its response.
“China has decided itself what measures it sees to be appropriate, and we hope that these measures of the lockdown will turn out to be effective,” the WHO’s China representative Gauden Galea told the state propaganda outlet China Daily. “We admire the courage of the people and government of Wuhan, and we hope that this temporary sacrifice will be a strong contribution to public health and indeed, global health.”
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