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"Mutual support is more valuable in challenging times," Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Cao Zhongming has told Belgian daily De Morgen, voicing his hope that joint efforts to fight COVID-19 would further promote bilateral ties.
The Chinese and Belgian governments and people have supported each other during the fight against COVID-19, the ambassador said in an exclusive interview with the newspaper.
On April 2, Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone conversation with King Philippe of Belgium, during which the two heads of state expressed solidarity against the pandemic and willingness to further promote bilateral ties.
The ambassador said that the Chinese embassy has acted as a bridge of connection between the two countries during the outbreak of COVID-19, by discussing joint response efforts with Belgian foreign relations and public health authorities, setting up video calls for exchanges between Chinese and Belgian experts, and facilitating Belgium's procurement of medical supplies in China among other measures.
In addition, Chinese companies, the Alibaba Foundation and the Jack Ma Foundation have donated to Belgium 500,000 masks and 30,000 test kits.
Faced with the COVID-19 crisis, Cao recalled that the European Union, of which Belgium is a member, donated 12 tons of protective equipment to China, and Belgian companies and individuals also made donations.
The valuable collaboration between China and Belgium are "manifestations of the unity and friendship between China and Belgium amid difficult times," he said.
China's role in sharing information on COVID-19 from the time the novel coronavirus appeared has been instrumental in the global understanding of the symptoms of the disease, Cao said.
On Jan. 11, China shared the genetic sequence of the virus with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the world, enabling the United States and Europe to start developing test kits and a vaccine, he said.
In response to the so-called "mask diplomacy" theory -- the fear of foreign powers using the relief efforts to boost their influence -- the ambassador said such claims are false. "Such concerns are unnecessary as China bears no such intentions."
"When the outbreak was at its peak in China, the EU and some European countries gave us much-appreciated support and assistance. Belgian companies also offered to help. What China is doing now is simply reciprocity with no political motivations behind it," he added.
It is the same when the EU helped us, nobody in China suspected "mask diplomacy," he continued. "It is unfair to level unfounded accusations against people willing to extend a helping hand."
Addressing whether the virus escaped from laboratories in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the ambassador said WHO experts and many leading scientists have refuted the idea, saying that all available evidence suggests that the virus is of animal origin and was not handled or constructed in a laboratory.
Belgian virologist Emmanuel Andre, a former inter-federal health spokesman, also agreed that the virus originated from nature and there is no evidence suggesting otherwise, Cao said.
While continuing its national efforts to control the disease, China will continue to actively work with international partners to defeat the virus, he said.
"We look forward to working together with the Belgian government and also with the EU to support the WHO playing a more important role in coordinating an international response," the ambassador said.
