Recently, His excellency, Mr. WangYu, China’s ambassador to Afghanistan declared, China will donate 400 thousand doses of vaccines to friendly Afghanistan, during the meeting with Dr. Wahid Majrooh, Minister of public health. Many Afghan netizens actively left messages on Mr. ambassador’s Twitter, praising highly the friendship between China and Afghanistan and saying that China and Afghanistan are real friends who can stand the test.
It is China’s responsibility as a major country to donate vaccines to Afghanistan. Previously, Chinese leader has stated on many occasions that once the COVID-19 vaccines developed by China are put into use, China will make them a public good for the whole world with accessibility and affordability. Up to now, China has provided or is providing vaccine assistance to 53 countries and has exported or is exporting vaccines to 27 other countries. China has also formally joined the COVAX and at the request of the WHO decided to provide 10 million doses of vaccines to the above “Implementation Plan”, mainly for the urgent needs of developing countries. This is another important step taken by China to promote the fair distribution of vaccines, advance international cooperation in the fight against the epidemic and implement the concept of a community of human public health.
It is a vivid manifestation of the deep brotherhood between China and Afghanistan to donate vaccines to Afghanistan. There is an old Chinese poem that says, “You throw a peach to me and I give you a white jade for friendship.” The Chinese people will never forget that when the epidemic broke out last year, the Afghan government and people immediately expressed their condolences to us. Many Afghan friends cheered for China through various forms. Some Afghan friends who have studied and worked in China spontaneously bought masks and other anti-epidemic supplies and donated them to the Chinese Embassy in Kabul. When Afghanistan faced the same problem, China has donated six batches of anti-epidemic materials to the country by overcoming lots of difficulties. The promise of further donation of vaccines is a good-neighborly friendship between the two countries too.
It is a concrete action to build a community with a shared future between our two countries. China and Afghanistan are friendly neighbors. China’s prosperity and development will surely benefit Afghanistan and Afghanistan’s peace and stability will also benefit China too. China and Afghanistan have neither historical animosity nor actual conflict. We are a community with a shared future. China welcomes Afghanistan to share the dividends and take the express train of China’s development. Because of the long-term ravages of war, Afghanistan has not yet exerted its natrual resources and geographical advantages fully. There is still huge potential for economic and trade exchanges between China and Afghanistan. We sincerely hope that the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan would be improved and accelerated and breakthroughs would be made as soon as possible. These 400,000 doses of vaccines are not just only Chinese medicines against the virus, but also full of confidence and blessings from China. There is an old Chinese saying: United we stand, Divided we fall. If we work together, we will surely win the final victory in the fight against the epidemic and we will surely usher in a better and bright tomorrow!
