Unity is key to winning war against outbreak

Countries across the world need to work together to defeat the novel coronavirus, experts say, but at the same time have warned against xenophobia hampering the fight against it.

Robert Dingwall, professor at the School of Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent University in the UK and an authority on medical sociology, said China has created the climate for international collaboration by being open with information.

"This is extremely important. A free flow of trustworthy information is the essential foundation of a well-organized international response."

Oliver Stelling, a communications adviser in Dubai who specializes in emerging markets, the Middle East and Asia, said China's decisive action such as the early release of the genetic sequencing of the virus has been key to the global effort.

"China wasted no time taking decisive action. Thanks to that we now have epidemiologists all over the world looking at the genetic makeup of that virus and comparing it to their own sequencing. That alone is very reassuring and will encourage more global collaboration."

A report by the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, a Chinese think tank, also highlighted the importance of international collaboration.

Because China was committed to building "a community of a shared future for mankind" it had been striving to meet its international responsibilities and obligations in countering the epidemic, it said.

Koh King Kee, president of the Centre for New Inclusive Asia, a think tank in Kuala Lumpur, agrees with the report and said China working with the rest of the world is the embodiment of Chinese President Xi Jinping's concept of mankind being a community and having a shared destiny.

"A contagious virus recognizes no borders," he said. "Beating it requires international collective efforts, just as climatic change, in the interest of all mankind."

"All human beings are members of the global village. Once a member contracts a virus it will quickly spread to others. In an interconnected world no country is an island. Mankind shares a common destiny."

The report of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies said the Chinese Government had given assistance to governments around the world to prevent the epidemic from spreading and had been engaging with other governments to help evacuate people from Wuhan.

It had prioritized a full disclosure of information with daily updates in multiple languages in order to prevent the spread of false rumors, the report said.

It also said that it was important for China to translate and publish guidelines on preventative measure to combat the disease and also called for support from the US, the EU and other developed countries in providing medical equipment and supplies and providing information on their best epidemic control practices.

The report also called for countries to "remain calm" about the epidemic and avoid discrimination against Chinese people.

Stelling, the communications expert, said there have been many cases of xenophobia relating to Chinese people that can hinder cooperation.

"Several media ran the same story about racism and xenophobia spreading faster than Wuhan virus. And not just in the West but also in Asia, including countries such as the Philippines, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. There is work to be done in educating the world about modern China."

When Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuson, director general of the World Health Organization, declared the virus as a public health emergency on Jan 28, he opposed any trade and travel restrictions on China.

Since then Australia and the United States have barred foreign citizens who have recently traveled through China from entering their countries. The UK has even advised its 30,000 citizens in China to return home, "if they can". Royal Caribbean International, the cruise operator, announced on Saturday that Chinese passport holders would be barred from cruises on its ships.

Koh at the Centre for New Inclusive Asia, said this has created unnecessary alarm.

"By ignoring the WHO's advice not to impose travel restrictions on China, the US has failed to observe the international rule of law it emphatically advocates and often accuses China of flouting. America's travel ban on China set a wave of nervousness that rippled through the world."

He is particularly critical of US Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, asserting in an interview that the epidemic will "help to accelerate "the return of jobs to America.

"The US lost the moral high ground with such unkind words," Koh said. "It demonstrated a total lack of civility and humanity."