on the evening of april 14, 2020, the onlinedialogue "covid-19: what we can learn and think" was successfully held. it was jointly organized by tsinghua latin america center and the center for international studies of the universidad católica de chile. professor chen taotao, director of tsinghua latin america center was invited to share china's experience in the fight against the epidemic and reflect on the global impact of the pandemic with more than 160 participants from chilean academia, political circles and business sectors.
jorge sahd, director of the center for international studies at universidad católica de chile, stated in his opening remarks that "the reason we are co-hosting this event with tsinghua latin america center is to learn more about china's experience in fighting against the covid-19 and to think about what we can do under the impact of the epidemic". the dialogue was moderated by ignacio tornero, a chilean lawyer.
first of all, ignacio asked about how to evaluate the severe measures taken by china, including the city lockdown. prof. chen taotao said that the virus is very destructive and spreads so fast that we have not expected. the most effective way is to find the source of infection and cut off the chain of transmission. therefore, we have adopted a particularly strict lockdown policy in wuhan. the lockdown in wuhanallowedother provinces and cities to react and make preparations, and also provided valuable time for countries around the world. unfortunately, many countries are still unprepared because they are not aware of the danger of the virus. when the moderator mentioned that due to the cultural differences, people in chile and latin america do not have the habit of wearing masks, prof. chen taotao said that "wearing masks in this epidemic is not a cultural issue, but the most basic way to cut off the source of infection", and she hoped that the chilean people could pay enough attention so as to protect themselves as well as others. in addition, prof. chen taotao mentioned that the development of china's digital economy has made a great contribution to the fight against the epidemic, which has supported both the tracking of the source of the virus and people' work and life during the epidemic. in particular, she introduced that tsinghua university has been promoting the online learning based on tsinghua rain classroom platform, where more than 3,000 courses were conducted remotely to ensure that all the classes started as scheduled. this is a very effective way to cope with the impact of the epidemic.
the moderator continued with a question about whether china's economy has gradually returned to normal since wuhan has already opened up, and how to successfully resume work and production while preventing the covid-19. to this, prof. chen taotao responded that "the situation in china right now is still having some distance from normal. although around 80% of the restaurants are now operating, but this does not mean that around 80% of the economy has been recovered. we encourage the resumption of work, but it does not mean that the situation is completely back to normal. the crisis of the virus is not completely over. imported cases still continue to show, and local cases, although small in number, still exist. so, we still need to remain alert and continuously do our best to prevent and control the epidemic". she stressed that, "according to china's experience, it is difficult to maintain a balance between the economy and epidemic prevention during the most critical period because we have to strictly control the spread of the virus. the only way to have the economy restored as soon as possible is to have the epidemic under control as early as possible".
"in terms of stimulus plans for the resumption of work and production in china, both the central government and local government have their local-specific plans; for example, at present, the government strongly supports manufacturers of epidemic prevention-related products, such as masks and ventilators, and support logistics-related businesses; besides, they also provide support to the companies that are resuming production through measures including tax cuts, financial support, utility bill reductions, deferred payments and provision of subsidies. in the future, we will see the construction of major infrastructure projects as well as new infrastructure projects, such as plans for the development of 5g, which are also in the next steps of the government's recovery and development plan. these measures are important to stimulate and recover the economy".prof. chen taotao said.
whenbeing asked about her opinion on both china and the world's economic recovery and the role of china in the world economy after the epidemic, prof. chen said that "every country is now facing the covid-19 crisis, a crisis for all humanity, and we need to work together to fight against the epidemic. if the world could work together maybe it will win a better future for everyone, but if the countries fight on their own, i am not so optimistic about the future."
"i believe we are a community of common destiny, and this epidemic reflects that even more. i think after the epidemic, there will be more countries want to work together and want to win together. china is a responsible country, together with our friendly countries, we will create a win-win future." chen taotao expressed her best wishes.
after the dialogue, prof.chen taotao gave positive answers to the questions raised by the participants about what role china plays in the global fight against the pandemic, the application for contact tracing, and the cooperation between china and latin america after the epidemic.
the center for international studies of the universidad católica de chile was founded in 2006. the center is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the main issues and challenges posed by globalization, international relations and international governance, serving to link the university and society.
tsinghua university latin america center was established in 2018, it is the liaison and exchange base of tsinghua university in latin america, serving the central mission of tsinghua university to cultivate talents and develop academic research, humanistic exchanges and, scientific and technological cooperation with latin american countries.
