Viruses and diseases respect no borders and do not distinguish between races or ethnicities. Some argue that “a hot virus from the rain forest lives within a twenty-four-hour plane flight from every city on earth.” When COVID-19 was raging in China and Beijing's epidemic prevention and control efforts reached the most crucial stage, a number of Beijing's sister cities showed great support for what the city did to combat the virus. They paid tribute to frontline medical workers and sent encouraging messages to the city's residents. As China has turned the tide on the virus, Beijing is returning the kindness it has received, and doing everything it can to help the sister cities.
Solidarity and cooperation are what help humanity get through a challenging time like this. What has happened between Beijing and its sister cities epitomizes the close ties between them. It also reflects the global community's appreciation and support for Beijing's fight against the virus. Currently, the epidemic has spread to more than 210 countries and regions, affecting over seven billion people and claiming over 300,000 lives. In the global war against the epidemic, no country can stand alone. This epidemic has sent a clear message, that is, the global village where we live is indeed a community with a shared future.
“When brothers come together, there is nothing they cannot achieve”
Soon after the COVID-19 outbreak, Seoul, a sister city of Beijing, offered its solicitude. In a video recorded to show his support, Mayor of Seoul Park Won-soon said, “The Chinese adage 'send a present of firewood in cold weather' means helping people in distress. Five years ago, when Seoul was struck by MERS, Beijing extended a helping hand promptly.” He noted the visit of Beijing's delegations and the arrival of the tourist groups from the city had given them great encouragement.
When Beijing was in dire need, Seoul donated supplies in three batches, including protective gowns, goggles, face shields, masks, and thermal imagers. “When brothers come together, there is nothing they cannot achieve. Only solidarity can see us through the current difficulties.” These encouraging words were imprinted on the packaging boxes. At the district level, Seongdong, Mapo, Dongdaemun and Seodaemun of Seoul made donations to Beijing's Huairou, Shijingshan, Yanqing, and Haidian, respectively.
“We have been like brothers in the past 24 years. At this difficult time, we need to join our hands together.” These words were written in both Chinese and Korean on each of the 49 boxes of supplies Shijingshan District received from Mapo on February 20. In addition, videos showing support for China's COVID-19 response were played on a loop in Seoul's city hall square, metro stations, and lifts in government buildings.
“Move faster, faster”
Cologne is one of the closest sister cities of Beijing, and the cooperation between the two cities is among the most extensive. Soon after the outbreak, Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker sent a letter to Mayor of Beijing Chen Jining, expressing confidence in China's success in the fight and offering to donate medical supplies. In a recorded video, she spoke encouragingly in Chinese, “Stay strong, China; stay strong, Beijing; and stay strong, Wuhan.”
Meanwhile, the government departments of Cologne acted promptly to gather direly needed medical supplies via various channels. At that time, there were already confirmed cases in Germany, causing pressure on the availability of the supplies. Finally, the city decided to donate a batch of materials from the limited inventory of its municipal hospital. Given that it takes a long time to transport materials from Cologne to Beijing and the Beijing-Düsseldorf flights were about to be canceled, the city of Cologne and the Consulate General of China in Düsseldorf urgently coordinated with an airline and passengers to bring the supplies onto the last flight. Eight boxes of precious medical supplies arrived in Beijing on February 13, the first batch of overseas supplies to the capital city after the outbreak. This is what Cologne has done to support Beijing in the fight against the epidemic.
“In times of crisis, we stick together”
Despite the geographic distance, the common threat of the epidemic has brought closer the hearts of people in Beijing and those in sister cities. The city hall of Tel Aviv–Yafo was lit up in the pattern of the national flag of China, Azadi Tower, the iconic landmark of Tehran, was lit up in Chinese red, and the Paris City Council issued a statement expressing its support for the Chinese people in fighting the virus.
As of now, Beijing has received letters of support from 24 cities including Tokyo, Seoul, Cologne, City of London, and Moscow, as well as international organizations such as the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. It has received supplies worth RMB1.1 million from the governments of sister cities, including 54,620 masks, 5,804 protective gowns, 3700 pairs of safety goggles, 90 face shields, 40 thermal imagers, and 1,000 pairs of medical gloves. Additionally, Haidian, Fengtai, Daxing and other districts received supplies worth about RMB400,000, including masks, protective gowns, and hand sanitizers.
As the Chinese saying goes, “Distance cannot separate true friends who remain close even when thousands of miles apart.” In times of crisis, we stick together. The heartwarming messages and donations from Beijing's sister cities and international organizations demonstrate their confidence in Beijing and in China and their determination to join us in the fight against the epidemic.
“Return a favor with a favor”
China has effectively contained the outbreak through painstaking efforts. The epidemic, however, is still sweeping other parts of the world. According to data from the WHO, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has surpassed 4.7 million worldwide, with more than 300,000 deaths. Seoul, Tokyo, Tehran, Yokohama, and other sister cities are facing grave challenges, including shortages in some medical supplies. This has raised concerns among people in Beijing. Cai Qi, Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Chen Jining, Mayor of Beijing have sent supportive messages to these cities' leaders. Meanwhile, as the capital city of a responsible major country, Beijing has done what it could to donate supplies to sister cities in need.
Beijing's donations include high-end medical devices such as mobile, fast and intelligent temperature detectors, non-invasive and invasive integrated therapeutic ventilators and nucleic acid testing kits, TCM products like Lianhua Qingwen and Jinhua Qinggan granules, and much-needed protective gears such as disposable gloves, shoe covers and hand sanitizing gel.
These supplies play a vital role in Beijing's epidemic response. For example, the mobile temperature detectors, armed with infrared thermal imaging, face recognition, and dynamic distance measurement technologies, provide intelligent and instant face temperature monitoring solutions. Suitable for crowded places such as supermarkets, department stores, office buildings, campuses, and public places in residential communities, the devices can detect the body temperatures of passers-by and report any abnormal conditions quickly and accurately, thus minimizing the risk of virus transmission at an early stage. As a typical example of how the city used technology in its epidemic responses, these products demonstrate Beijing's exciting capabilities in research and development. TCM has proved to play a role in COVID-19 treatment. And that's why we included Lianhua Qingwen and Jinhua Qinggan granules in our donations. These materials convey the friendship of the residents in Beijing and reflect its determination to support the sister cities' fight against the epidemic.
We completely relate to what the people in the sister cities are going through and would like to stand closely together with them. On March 9, Beijing sent the first batch of donations to its sister cities, including TCM drugs, masks, protective clothing, and gloves, to the hard-hit Teheran through the Iranian Embassy in China. In late April, medical and protective materials donated by Beijing arrived in other sister cities. The mayor of Cologne and mayor of Rome expressed their appreciation on local government websites.
In the face of the global health challenge, we're all in this together. Over the years, in the principle of sincerity, practicality, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, Beijing has twined with 55 cities in 50 countries. Fighting the epidemic together with our sister cities is an important opportunity to advance our friendship, strengthen people-to-people exchanges, and tell the world the true stories of China's fight against the epidemic. The cooperation epitomizes our commitment to building a community with a shared future for mankind. In the next steps, Beijing will step up cooperation on epidemic prevention and control and work with its sister cities to secure the victory over the disease.
