Ali Ghanem Al-Hajri, Qatar's Consul General in Guangzhou.[Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Today, China has won the first battle against COVID-19 which has become a worldwide crisis. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I have been staying in China and have experienced 55 days of “home quarantine”. As a witness who has been following the development of the pandemic around the globe, I have seen various countries responding to it. In other words, I am one of the few foreigners who have gone through the whole period in China. The Communist Party of China, the Chinese government and the Chinese people have worked together to carry out effective policies and measures. It is a nation with strong humanitarian spirit. During this period of time, I read books about Chinese history and I found that, though China shares many great visions with other countries, it is China who has put them into practice. It sets a good example to the world by properly handling the pandemic with scientific measures and a sober mind. Guangzhou is a beautiful city, an important economic town and one of the world’s oldest commercial city. It is also a global medical center which constantly exports medical supplies to the outside world.

There have being accusations that China has not done a good job in preventing and controlling the pandemic. In my view, it is just a vicious slander. As a foreign witness, I believe all the measures taken by China are effective. For example, in the first week of the outbreak, the Chinese government asked its people to wear masks and set up a 14-day quarantine for suspected patients. No other country did the same thing. China’s high sensitivity against and great attention on the disease made it possible to adopt efficient measures in a timely manner. The Chinese people always consider themselves as members of the society and they often put public interest first. Because of this, the whole Chinese nation has been motivated to fight the disease.

（The article was written by Ali Ghanem Al-Hajri, Qatar's Consul General in Guangzhou.）