People come first in fight against COVID-19, says ambassador

The Chinese government, while taking measures to prevent and control COVID-19, has followed basic principles such as people's lives being paramount, and responds immediately to people's wishes, says China's Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye.

Lu made the remarks in an interview with the French magazine Challenges on Nov 28.

China's dynamic zero-COVID approach is mainly based on epidemic prevention and control, he said.

"In formulating the measures, the Chinese government follows basic principles such as putting the people and their lives above all else. This is the thinking advocated by President Xi Jinping since the start of the pandemic.

"The Chinese Communist Party has a tradition of listening to the voices of the people to serve the people. If the people have wishes, the Chinese government will certainly take them into account. That is why whenever there are appeals or wishes from the people, the Chinese government responds to them right away.

"You can see that the central and local governments reacted immediately to what happened in (recent) days."

What happened in Shanghai and elsewhere in China lately showed that there are anti-China foreign forces that have used internal elements in the country to achieve their own ends, Lu said.

In the interview with the magazine Lu detailed China's anti-coronavirus policy and said more cases had been recorded recently than before, but compared with other countries the number is still very low, he said.

"The anti-COVID response has lasted almost three years, (and) there is kind of weariness among the public."

The 20 measures the Chinese government had adopted to optimize the response to COVID-19 are balanced, covering pandemic prevention and control, and people's livelihoods and work, he said.

"But unfortunately some local governments have not fully understood these measures or duly enforced them. They go the simple, rigid way to control the increase in cases. They are afraid to see a rapid rise in cases."

This included the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Lu said.

However, a fatal fire in Xinjiang recently was not caused by anti-COVID measures, he said.

"This fire took place in the context of the pandemic. There have been quarantine and control measures locally. But we cannot say, like Western media, that the fire was caused by these measures."

Lu also talked about relations between China and the West, the Ukraine crisis and so-called underground police stations in China.

During the more than 40 years of reform and opening-up, relations between China and Western countries have developed "quite well", he said.

"It's a win-win because both parties benefit."

The problem is that the US has been unhappy with China's continued rise and development, taking all kinds of measures to prevent the country's economic and scientific development, he said.

Cooperative relationship

"This does not correspond to the rules of the market economy, nor to the rules of the World Trade Organization, nor to the rules written by Westerners. It is not fair.

"China's position on Western countries has remained consistent. We wish to develop a cooperative relationship on an equal footing with all Western countries, especially European countries including France."

Lu confirmed that France's President Emmanuel Macron will visit China.

"We are trying to improve relations with European countries through these high-level meetings. For us there are more convergences than divergences, and more cooperation than confrontation. China and Europe are about 10,000 kilometers apart; we have no conflict economically and geopolitically."

Lu urged France and other European Union countries to drop protectionism and open their markets to Chinese investors.

The aggregate of French investment in China now stands at 35 billion euros ($36.9 billion), according to figures in France. Chinese investment in France is 8.5 billion euros.

On the Ukraine conflict, Lu said China wants all involved to sit down to negotiate a new security structure in Europe that includes Russia.

"The ultimate solution to the crisis lies in negotiation and dialogue.

"The final solution to the crisis lies in negotiation and dialogue."