William Jones

The outbreak of the coronavirus in China came as a great shock to the world. And the emergency measures taken by the Wuhan authorities and by the Central Government of China have been singularly important in attempting to limit the spread of the disease in China and the rest of the world. The courageous efforts of the Chinese medical personnel and the citizenry in dealing with an overwhelming event which tested the capacity of the extensive medical infrastructure in the city has represented a degree of heroism seen otherwise only in the case of war.

While the overall extent of the spread of the virus is still not known, the fact that new cases have been largely contained within Hubei Province attests to the success of the measures taken.

While voices have been raised in the West attributing blame to China for the occurrence of the virus and using the crisis for cheap political gain, the majority of people, both here in the United States and world-wide are in sympathy with the people of China in this great crisis and working to help China weather through it. And weather it, it will because of the nature of the Chinese people and the total commitment shown by the Chinese government to commit all resources in that effort.

And while there will be economic costs for China in the short run, I am convinced that it will with time emerge even stronger in its march toward rejuvenation. While China has given much to the world, particularly in the last two decades, the difficulties China now faces also affect the continuation of the good it has accomplished – in Africa, and Southeast and Central Asia with the Belt and Road Initiative. This remains as an historic landmark in the history of man and will manifest its full strength again when China has recovered from this horrific development. Our hearts go out to the people in Wuhan and Hubei and to all the Chinese people.

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