Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be attending a special ASEAN-China foreign ministers' meeting in Laos from Feb. 19 to Feb. 21 to discuss the Covid-19 outbreak.

The meeting will be co-chaired by China's State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Foreign Secretary Teodoro Lopez Locsin from the Philippines.

Epidemic will not stop ASEAN-China cooperation

On Feb. 18, in a letter to The Straits Times, China's ambassador to Singapore, Hong Xiaoyong highlighted the importance of ASEAN-China cooperation amidst the epidemic, which has worn down the tourism industry across the region.

Hong noted that the inter-governmental meeting between China and ASEAN leaders will be an opportunity to share information about the epidemic, and to enhance the prevention and control of the outbreak in the region.

"This meeting, which represents another major action in this spirit, demonstrates that the ASEAN-China relationship has become more and more mature," he added, optimistic that the joint response of ASEAN and China would "add more substance" to the regional cooperation.

While he agreed that the viral outbreak has hit the regional economy hard, he noted that it would "end eventually", and will not stop ASEAN-China cooperation.

Thankful to S'pore for protecting overseas Chinese citizens

Hong wrote in his letter that the Singapore government and community have "provided valuable help to China", going on to thank Singapore for protecting China's overseas citizens and sharing medical research and information.

He noted that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had publicly expressed confidence in China's fight against the Covid-19 outbreak, and stressed that the epidemic had nothing to do with nationality or race.

"In a phone conversation with Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat expressed his sympathy and support for China," he added, expressing his thanks to Singapore's leaders.

China putting in great effort to fight outbreak

Hong stressed that China has been putting in its best effort to stop the outbreak, and yielding significant results from the measures put in place.

"The number of new confirmed cases has been declining across the country and the overall cure rate is on the rise for more than two weeks.”

“Effective drugs are under development. Social life and economic production are gradually getting back on track," Hong wrote, expressing his confidence in China's measures.

He added that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has lauded China's efforts for containing the outbreak, resulting in minimal damage overseas.

The impact (of the outbreak) on the world is far lower than that of H1N1 and other infectious diseases that have occurred in North America.

As WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently stated, if it weren't for China's efforts, the number of cases outside China would have been much higher," Hong wrote.

Top image via MFA, Wikipedia Commons