外交部驻香港公署特派员谢锋在《华尔街日报》网页版发表英文署名文章

【文/ 谢锋】

1666年，鼠疫席卷欧洲。在英国东米德兰一个叫埃姆的小村庄，为保护邻近城镇不受感染，约800名居民选择自我隔离。1667年11月隔离解除时，共有260名居民为阻止疫病扩散献出了生命。

2020年初，新冠肺炎疫情突然来袭。中国武汉，这座千万级人口的九省通衢之地，果断封城76天，克服难以想象的困难，作出前所未有的牺牲，为中国和世界筑起了遏制疫情的第一道坚实防线。

新冠病毒是一种全新病毒，不可能先知先觉。作为受到第一波冲击的国家之一，中国率先参加“闭卷考试”，交出了令人鼓舞的答卷，为其他国家随后的“开卷答题”提供了重要参考。

中国无意输出自己的制度和模式，但在这场保卫生命的战“疫”中展现出来的中国效率、中国精神、中国担当有目共睹。然而，一些人无中生有地编造“新冠病毒是中国人工合成”的谣言，利用社交媒体散布。还有人将所谓“新冠病毒是中国制造”的谣言塞入日本诺贝尔奖得主、京都大学教授本庶佑的口中，老先生坐不住了，专门发表声明辟谣。一些美国政客声称掌握“病毒来自武汉实验室”的证据，却始终拿不出来。包括福奇在内的多名美国政府科学家都批驳了这些歪理邪说。

日本诺贝尔奖得主、京都大学教授本庶佑发表声明辟谣，图片来源：维基百科、网站截图

病毒溯源是严肃的科学问题，应由科学家进行科学调查、基于事实和证据作出科学判断。政客不应肆意插手，更不应搞污名化。

这场疫情在全球多点暴发，源头不明，众说纷纭，迄无定论。2019年晚些时候，一些国家曾暴发症状与“流感”相似的不明肺炎。伦敦大学学院遗传学研究所的最新研究显示，疫情可能始于去年10月6日至12月11日之间。越来越多国家发现目前确定的“零号患者”没有去过中国，当地流行的病毒毒株基因也与中国并不相同。

中国发现疫情后，第一时间主动报告，第一时间确定病原体，第一时间与世卫组织和各国分享基因序列。但中国反而被污名为“隐瞒者”、“延误者”，被推上被告席，而那些没有及时检测、报告、作为的却成了审判者。何其荒唐！

随着各国发现比中国更早的病例、时间线不断前移，有些人首先想到的是“甩锅”推责、嫁祸于人，而不是检讨自身失误。究竟是技术不行，还是缺乏责任心？是漏报，还是瞒报？如果因为最先报告就要被扣上病毒源头的帽子，就要被追责，就要替其他国家防控不力买单，今后还有哪个国家愿意积极检测、诚实报告？

更有甚者，有些人想钱想疯了，居然打起了发“疫情财”的算盘，企图向中国“索赔”，复制100多年前列强逼迫中国“庚子赔款”的历史。“君子爱财，取之有道”。这样赤裸裸的敲诈抢钱，与强盗何异？

还有人鼓噪趁着疫情对中国“断供”、与中国“脱钩”，人为制造全球产业链供应链“梗阻”，这不啻是对本已垂危的世界经济致命一击，给全球经济复苏雪上加霜。

人命关天，抗疫为先，病毒才是真正的敌人。“甩锅”中国弥补不了失去的时间，拯救不了濒危的生命。在这场与病毒的角力中，我们不是对手，而是队友。各国之间无需攀比嫉妒，更不应指责埋怨、搞窝里斗、找替罪羊。相反，我们应该发扬公平公正的体育精神和齐心协力的团队精神，为表现出色的队友点赞叫好，向需要帮助的伙伴伸出援手。因为，在这场较量中，没有“你”输“我”赢，只有“我们”共赢。

在人类遭受危难之际，埃姆和武汉人民作出了英雄的抉择。他们勇于担当、自我牺牲、团结互助的精神穿越时空，超越国家、种族、信仰和意识形态，激励着国际社会放下偏见、搁置分歧、同心同德。他们的精神不仅点燃我们最终战胜疫情的希望，也照亮人类美好的未来。

（翻页查看英文原文）

China Wants to Help the World Fight Coronavirus

By Xie Feng

May 12, 2020 6:30 pm ET

In 1666, as bubonic plague swept Europe, residents of the tiny village of Eyam in England’s East Midlands elected to quarantine themselves in hopes of protecting neighboring communities. When the lockdown was lifted in November 1667, 260 of the approximately 800 residents had died, but the self-isolation worked. The illness was contained.

In early 2020, caught in the Covid-19 outbreak, Wuhan, a transport hub of 11 million people in China’s Hubei province, locked itself down for 76 days. Making tremendous sacrifice against all the odds, it created a strong first line of defense for China and the world.

Covid-19 has thrust the world into uncharted territory. Among the countries hit by its first wave, China took a “closed-book exam,” with uplifting results that have informed other countries’ decision-making in the “open-book tests” that followed.

While China never intends to export its system or model, its efficiency, spirit and sense of responsibility in the lifesaving battle against Covid-19 should be obvious. But some have started rumors that the coronavirus was produced synthetically in China. Social media amplifies these falsehoods. Tasuku Honjo, a Japanese Nobel Laureate from Kyoto University, was forced to issue a public statement denying that he had claimed the virus had been “manufactured in China.” Some American politicians touted evidence—none of which has been produced—that the novel virus originated in a Wuhan laboratory. But even the Trump administration’s own scientists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have dismissed such theories.

Identifying the virus’s origin is a serious scientific issue. It is up to scientists to research and draw evidence-based conclusions. Politicians shouldn’t meddle in the process, much less stigmatize others.

Outbreaks have occurred world-wide, and there is dispute about where the virus first appeared. A pneumonia of unknown origin with flulike symptoms was seen in some countries in late 2019. According to recent research by University College London’s Genetics Institute, the pandemic may have started sometime between Oct. 6 and Dec 11. A growing number of countries have found that their assumed “patient zero” had not traveled to China and that the local dominant strains of the virus are different from those in China.

China was the first to spot and report the outbreak, identify the pathogen, and share its genome sequence with the World Health Organization and the rest of the world. Yet China has been accused of coverups and delays and put in the dock. At the same time, those who failed to test, report and act in a timely fashion are passing judgment on others. Isn’t it a bit ironic?

As the timeline changes and possible cases are discovered in other countries that predate those found in China, some are anxious to shift the blame instead of reflecting on their own failures in the virus’s early days. Was it because they lacked the techniques, or perhaps a sense of responsibility? Could there have been any undercounting or even coverup? Should a country be labeled as the origin of the virus, held accountable and made to pay for others’ inept responses simply because it was the first to report what it found? If so, what country will be willing to test people and honestly report the findings in the future?

Some are taking things further, trying to make a fortune out of the pandemic. They have demanded reparations from China, a chilling reminder of the Boxer Indemnity foreign powers coerced China into paying more than a century ago. As a Chinese proverb goes, “A gentleman pursues wealth in a righteous way.” Blackmail and plunder are surely not the correct response to a pandemic.

Some others have seen the crisis as an opportunity to cut off trade and decouple economically from China. This has caused bottlenecks in global industrial supply chains and will only set back the recovery of frail economies.

Fighting Covid-19 should be everyone’s first concern. The enemy is the virus. Scapegoating China will neither make up for the time that has been lost, nor save the lives that are at risk. We are teammates in this battle, not rivals. Countries need not compete with or envy each other, still less point the finger at or turn against one another. In fact, quite the opposite is necessary. We need to show sportsmanship and team spirit, give teammates who perform well a pat on the back, and lend a helping hand to those in need. After all, this is a fight nobody can afford to lose, one we must win together.

When disaster struck, people in Eyam and Wuhan made their heroic choices. They are the epitome of responsibility, self-sacrifice and solidarity. Such spirit defies time and space, transcends national, ethnic, religious and ideological boundaries, and inspires the international community to set aside prejudice and differences and unite as one. Not only has it kindled our hope of prevailing over the ongoing pandemic; but it will also light our way to a better future.

（Mr. Xie is commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong.）