By Foday Moriba Conteh
The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Sierra Leone has on Friday 10th April, 2020 in a press statement reacted or cleared the air over social media reports about unfortunate occurrences bordering on maltreatment of Sierra Leonean citizens in China.
The release noted that the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Sierra Leone has taken note of certain video clips making the rounds on social media about some unfortunate occurrences involving Sierra Leone citizens in China and expressed regret thereof, adding that China and Sierra Leone are time-tested friends and that these two countries always stand together through thick and thin and are jointly combating COVID-19 at the moment.
The Embassy stated that when COVID-19 broke out in China, H.E. President Julius Maada Bio, the Parliament and friends from all walks of life in Sierra Leone expressed full solidarity with China, to which the Chinese side highly appreciated and that when Sierra Leone was making robust preparation for the prevention of the pandemic, especially after it registered imported cases, the Chinese Government and people rushed to provide support and donated 3 batches of urgently needed essential medical supplies to Sierra Leone, which greatly helped Sierra Leone in enhancing its capability of battling with the pandemic. It affirmed that the Embassy therefore has full confidence in the bilateral friendship.
The Chinese went further to say that currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging the world and China itself has made huge sacrifices in bringing it under control stating how they are under enormous pressure to prevent the COVID-19 from coming back from out of the country and its resurgence within.
He noted that China has a population of 1.4 billion and if the COVID-19 could not be completely contained, it would be catastrophic to China and the whole world and that the stringent measures China has taken is the key to its early success and also an important guarantee to prevent future spread of the virus. He emphasized that everyone in China including foreign nationals are required to follow relevant preventive measures in accordance with laws and regulations, adding that the Chinese Government is putting a high premium on the health and security of foreign nationals in China.
“During the difficult times in fighting against COVID-19, 3,000-odd African students in Wuhan stayed safe and sound except one case(later cured and discharged from hospital), which could be attributed to the stringent measures taken by the Chinese authorities and the close cooperation of the students themselves. The Chinese stated that the Embassy would like to express sincere appreciation to Sierra Leonean friends in China for their understanding and cooperation in that regard,” the release disclosed.
They maintained that during the prevailing occurrences there may be more of misunderstanding and that China rejects differential treatment in terms of fighting the virus and practices zero tolerance for discrimination.
“It is true that due to the introduction of prevention and control measures by Guangzhou local authorities, inconvenience will ensue. The Chinese Government has taken these occurrences seriously and instructed relevant local authorities to try to strike a proper balance between taking necessary preventive measures and taking care of the legitimate concerns of the parties concerned,” they lamented.
The Embassy maintains that the Chinese side believes that the Sierra Leonean friends in China would comply with the public health regulations, just as the Chinese nationals in Sierra Leone should go by the rules and regulations here and that the Chinese Government, already in closely communication with the Sierra Leonean Embassy in China, will address the relevant issues well. It furthered that it is hoped that there will be mutual understanding and rational interpretation of the relevant events.
Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to China, HE Ernest M. Ndomahina dilating on this controversial issue stated that the recent unfortunate development in Guangdong Province involving some of the country’s compatriots has been brought to the attention of the Embassy of Sierra Leone in Beijing.
In that regard, he said the Embassy wished to inform all compatriots as follows: That since the 9 April 2020 the Ambassador and staff have been in constant touch with the Guangzhou City Foreign Affairs Office (GCFAO) and GCFAO has assured Sierra Leoneans are safety and wellbeing.
He also stated that representatives of African Ambassadors have met with the Director General, Africa Affairs Division at the Ministry of Foreign in Beijing and stated in very strong terms, their concern and condemnation of the disturbing and humiliating experiences their citizens have been subjected to.
“They reminded the Director General that African countries have been supportive of the People’s Republic of China in its fight against the pandemic especially in the early stages when the country was the epicentre of the outbreak,” he pointed out adding that the Ambassador and staff have been in constant communication with the undermentioned 14 compatriots who were moved from their apartments to hotels for compulsory quarantine.
He said the Embassy is monitoring the situation and wishes to report that our citizens are cooperating with the municipal authorities as they serve their 14-day mandatory quarantine.
