双语:谁应该为新冠疫情的蔓延承担责任?
发布时间:2020年04月29日
发布人:nanyuzi  

Who Is Responsible for the Spread of COVID-19?

谁应该为新冠疫情的蔓延承担责任?

 

Ambassador of China to Holland Dr. Xu Hong

驻荷兰大使徐宏

 

6 April 2020

2020年4月6日

 

After the COVID-19 outbreak is under effective control in China, the coronavirus continues to spread in many European countries and the United States. China is actively committed to international cooperation, including providing assistance to severely-hit countries as much as it can. Unfortunately, at this critical moment when solidarity and joint efforts are needed more than ever, we hear some harsh remarks like China should held accountable for the global spread of the novel coronavirus, China’s offering of face masks and other medical supplies to the West is a “propaganda effort” to “cover up its own responsibility”. A few scholars attempted to find theoretical argument for their claims from the perspective of “state liability” under international law. Some high-ranking officials in some countries even declared to “settle accounts” with China after the outbreak, including “claiming compensations” from China.

新冠疫情在中国得到有效控制后,在欧美多国出现蔓延态势。中国正致力于国际合作,包括向疫情严重国家提供各种力所能力的帮助。但不幸的是,正当国际社会需要团结一心、相互支持的关键时刻,却出现一些刺耳的杂音,说什么中国应为新冠疫情的蔓延承担责任,中国现在向西方提供口罩等医疗物资是“掩盖责任”的“宣传攻势”。少数学者企图从国际法中的“国家责任”角度为这种论调提供理论依据。有的国家高官甚至声称,等疫情过去之后需要对中国“秋后算帐”,包括向中国“索赔”。

 

Clearly, these arguments are full of political arrogance and prejudice, and violate basic human conscience and moral codes.

显然,这些论调充满政治上的傲慢与偏见,违背人类良知和基本道德准则。

 

According to international law, the precondition of a country bearing “state liability” for certain damages is that the country has committed an “international wrongful act”, in other words, the country acted in violation of its international obligations. Some people say that China concealed information for a long time after the outbreak, failing its obligations to notify WHO in a timely manner as stipulated in the International Health Regulations. But is this really the case?

依国际法,指控某国应为特定损害承担“国家责任”,前提是该国实施了“国际不法行为”,即该国的行为违背了其承担的国际义务。有人说中国在疫情发生后长时间隐瞒信息,没有履行《国际卫生条例》规定的及时向世卫组织通报等义务。但真的是这样吗?

 

On 27th of December 2019, a hospital in Hubei Province of China reported three cases of pneumonia of unknown causes for the first time. Two days later, relevant authorities carried out an epidemiological investigation and notified the WHO office in China on 31st of December. On the 3rd of January 2020, China formally reported to WHO and the virus was separated on the 7th of January. On the 12th of January, the whole genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus was shared with WHO. Since then, China has been keeping contact with WHO and other countries. As we can see from this time line, China’s handling and notification of this incident is extremely speedy, open, transparent and responsible. Especially considering that COVID-19 is a brand-new virus, it will take some time to make a scientific and prudent assessment of its character, transmissibility and severity. It was not until 30th January that WHO declared the epidemic as “Public Health Emergency of International Concern”, which once again proved that there was no delay in China’s notification. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the speed and scale of China’s move were rarely seen in the world.

去年12月27日中国湖北省一家医院首次上报3个不明原因肺炎病例,两天后有关部门开展流行病学调查,12月31日向世卫组织驻华办事处通报。2020年1月3日完成正式上报世卫组织的程序,同月7日分离出该病毒,12日将新冠病毒全基因组序列与世卫组织分享,此后中方一直与世卫组织和各国保持沟通。从这个时间轴可以看出,中方对这一事件的处理和通报是极其快速、公开、透明和负责任的。尤其是考虑到新冠病毒是一种全新的病毒,对其病毒属性、传播原理及危害性进行科学审慎的评估都需要一定时间。直至1月30日,世卫组织才将此次疫情宣布为“国际关注的突发公共卫生事件”,这再次证明中方的通报不存在任何延迟。世卫组织总干事谭德塞表示,中方行动的速度之快、规模之大,是举世罕见的。

 

China has taken unprecedentedly comprehensive, thorough and rigorous measures to stem the spread of the virus. From the beginning, President Xi Jinping has stressed “to put people’s safety and health as the top priority”. That was and remains the starting point of the Chinese government’s response to the epidemic. On January 23, China decisively imposed lockdown in Wuhan, and initiated the top level of public health emergency response across China. These measures go beyond the requirement of International Health Regulations in many aspects. Some statistical prediction models show that with these measures, at least 80% of possible infections have been prevented, and valuable time was bought for the rest of China and the rest of the world in containing the epidemic. Chinese people, especially the inhabitants of Wuhan, have made enormous sacrifices for this. The Chinese government also updates the latest data every day, and shares information and experiences with other countries. It shows not only that China has never violated its international obligations, but also has set a new standard for the world in fulfilling international obligations, as noted by WHO.

中方为控制疫情扩散采取了有史以来最为全面、彻底和严格的措施。习近平主席一开始就明确指出,“把人民群众的生命安全和身体健康放在首位”,这始终是中国政府处理疫情的根本出发点。1月23日,中国果断对武汉“封城”,全国各地启动突发公共卫生事件一级响应。这些举措在很多方面超出了《国际卫生条例》的要求。根据有关预测模型统计,这些措施至少减少了80%感染的发生,为全国乃至世界防疫斗争赢得了宝贵时间。为此,中国人民特别是武汉市民作出了巨大牺牲。中国政府还每天发布最新数据,与各国分享相关信息和经验。可见,中国不仅不存在违背国际义务的问题,相反,正如世卫组织指出的,中国在履行国际义务方面为全球树立了新的标杆。

 

Then why did the pandemic outbreak later in Europe and the US? Being the first country seriously hit by the unknown virus, China managed to achieve remarkable results within two months. Despite the available knowledge of the virus’s trait and the WHO’s repeated calls for better prevention, the virus still spread widely under our noses. Something must went really wrong. “We knew in the last week of January that this was coming. The message from China was absolutely clear”, said Dr. Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the well-known medical journal The Lancet, He believes that some countries have wasted a lot of time. Shouldn’t these countries reflect on themselves with an open mind?

那么疫情随后为什么又在欧美等地暴发呢?中国是第一个面对不明病毒攻击的国家,尚且能在两个多月时间内取得显著成效。而一些国家在充分了解病毒特性、世界卫生组织又一再呼吁加强防范的情况下,仍然眼睁睁地看着疫情的大规模蔓延,肯定是什么地方出了问题。知名医学杂志《柳叶刀》主编理查德·霍顿近日表示:“在1月的最后一个星期,我们就知道疫情会到来,中国疫情所传递出的信息非常清楚。”他认为一些国家浪费了大量时间。这些国家是不是应该虚心地反思一下自己有哪些失误?

 

Therefore, countries concerned should focus on how to improve their response to the pandemic and protect the safety and health of their people, rather than focusing on shirking responsibilities. Otherwise, it will do no good in combating the pandemic in their own countries, and will even endanger global public health. China will remain committed to cooperation with all parties in goodwill to make contributions to defeating COVID-19, the common enemy of mankind.

所以,有关国家应该把精力放在如何采取有效措施控制疫情、保护人民的生命健康上,而不要把心思放在如何推卸责任上。否则,不仅无益于本国抗疫,而且会危及全球公共卫生安全。中方将继续秉持善意,与各方合作,为战胜病毒这一人类的共同敌人作出贡献。