Asean, China to boost engagement, info exchange on Covid-19

(e.g. its spread, prospect of cure given failure to find it for SARS and deadlier MERSCOV), and the lies spread by envious states stooping to using a threat against humanity to advance geopolitical aims."#WeAreASEAN#DFAinAction

— DFA Philippines 🇵🇭 (@DFAPHL) February 20, 2020

MANILA — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China have agreed to strengthen policy dialogue and exchanges on data to completely eradicate the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian said on Friday.

The agreement came during the Special Asean-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Covid-19 held in Vientiane, Laos on Thursday.

“The ministers have exchanged views on the situation of the epidemic and explored cooperation to jointly fight this threat. They’ve agreed on (having) measures like an exchange of data, research efforts, and capacity building to tackle regional public health threats,” he told reporters during an interview on Friday in Makati City.

Asean and China, in a statement issued after the meeting, vowed to strengthen engagement with Asean-led mechanisms as well as with external partners to address the health crisis.

The two also agreed to amplify risk communication and community engagement to fight fake news and misinformation about the outbreak.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired the meeting on Thursday.

In a tweet on Friday, Locsin called on the public to “deplore the lies spread by governments and people who are stooping so low as to use a threat against all humanity as an instrument of geopolitical strategy.”

Huang said the Philippines as country coordinator to the Asean-China dialogue made significant contributions in rallying for cooperation in the region.

“We are very appreciative of the very constructive role the Philippine government played, in particular Secretary (Teodoro) Locsin who has played a leading role in pushing forward regional cooperation,” the envoy said.

Huang said China would continue pursuing a “policy of transparency” and keep everyone updated on the situation.

“Soon after the outbreak, we shared with the World Health Organization and other countries about the genetic sequence of the virus so that we can work together and develop some kind of vaccine and we even established a website where you can find sufficient information in six languages every day,” he said.