Beijing, China
The leaders of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) congratulated on Saturday the “extraordinary” success in the face of the covid-19 pandemic, when a mission of the World Health Organization (WHO) arrives in the country that will try to clarify the origins of the coronavirus.
The Chinese government has been widely criticized inside and outside its borders for the way it has managed outbreak of virus in Wuhan, in the center of the country, at the end of 2019.
But on Saturday, the CCP leadership congratulated itself “decisive role” of the party in the face of “strange risks and challenges this year” and because it has adopted “a long-term perspective that has allowed a glorious and extremely extraordinary victory in this totally unusual year,” according to statements released by Xinhua news agency.
Lea: WHO to send equipment to China in the wake of the coronavirus
China claims that in just a few months it has managed to eradicate the coronavirus due to a strict closure policy in the affected cities. In addition, it will be the only country in the world to record positive growth this year.
But China is accused of hiding the virus, allowing it to spread around the world. At least eight people who criticized government policies at the beginning of the crisis have been punished in some way in the country.
For example, a Chinese journalist, Zhang Zhan, whose reports in Wuhan earlier this year showed the chaos of the first weeks, was detained and will be tried on Monday.
These statements of Chinese satisfaction come a few days before the arrival of a WHO mission in the country, which will travel to Wuhan, among other things, to investigate the origins of the virus, especially to try to understand how it passed from animal to human.
Further: The first case of a new British coronavirus strain detected in France
This investigation is not intended to “blame a country or authority”, but to try to “understand what happened to prevent it from happening again”.
China has recently tried to question the origin of the virus. “All the available evidence shows that the coronavirus did not appear in Wuhan, in central China,” the Daily People recently posted on its website, without providing further details.
For months, China has also promised to share the vaccine with developing countries and provide masks and other protective materials to countries in need.