Letter from Berlin. The Moment has come:
International Solidarity and the Corona-crisis!
We call for a Global Ceasefire.
And the end of the sanctions policy against
almost a third of humanity.
And the end of the demonization of China and Russia.
SEE LIST OF SIGNATORIES HERE
Against
the backdrop of the widening corona pandemic, we support the efforts of
the United Nations Secretary-General to reach a global ceasefire. An idea that is now supported by at least 70 countries.
At
the same time, we agree with the demands of numerous governments and
organizations for the end of the sanctions policy, which now affects
almost a third of humanity. Venezuela, Cuba, Syria, Nicaragua, Iran,
Palestine, Yemen, North Korea and Zimbabwe were already severely
affected by the sanctions before the pandemic, and the situation has
now deteriorated even further. But other countries, especially Russia,
are also subject to an increasingly aggressive sanctions policy.
Many countries are now in need of debt cancellation. Because currently
over 800 million people worldwide are suffering from hunger. Over 2
billion people live without access to clean drinking water; over 4
billion have no access to safe healthcare.
All of these problems need to be addressed. As
a partner of the Non-Aligned Movement, China has initiated an immense
infrastructure plan for connecting Asia, Europe and Africa with its
initiative the "New Silk Road" and has now expanded it with a new
multipolar project named “Silk Road of Health”.
Unhindered
access to technologies, especially in the health sector, should enable
everyone to continue to develop and share scientific developments and
products.
That is why we support the Open Letter from the Chinese Embassy in Berlin to the editor-in-chief of the BILD-Newspaper
regarding extremely anti-China reporting, which stirs up “nationalism,
prejudice and xenophobia and anti-China”, as the letter from the
embassy states. (Letter see below)
At
this point we express our sincere thanks for the solidarity of the
Chinese people and the government of the People's Republic of China:
The international aid deliveries, teams of physicians and medical
personnel as well as equipment. This solidarity has resulted in gratitude, sympathy and recognition everywhere in Europe and in the world.
Of course, this also applies to the immense efforts of Russia and Cuba. All three countries have given new hope, shoulder to shoulder, to the idea of international solidarity. And people around the world have recognized these efforts.
We
therefore underline once again the fundamental importance of the joint
efforts of peace-loving countries worldwide to oppose imperialist
forces. Resistance
must be organised to oppose those states and forces that promote
policies characterized by direct or indirect acts of war, arms
deliveries to crisis regions, and direct or indirect financing of
non-state militias and terrorist groups in order to overthrow unwanted governments or to destabilize entire states and regions.
The German government as well as other NATO member states are involved in many aspects of this policy, while at the same time "solidarity and helpfulness" is demanded in international relations.
Attempts
by the US government to provoke conflicts in the midst of the pandemic,
like against Venezuela, Syria and Iran, with the aim of "regime change"
are also highly dangerous, and are also used to distract from their own
failure to fight the pandemic.
In
the interests of world peace, international security and the peaceful
coexistence of all peoples, we therefore call for the principles of the
United Nations Charter to be respected and followed and for
international law to be defended.
That
is why it is particularly important now, against the background of the
corona pandemic, to condemn all attempts to counter efforts for
international solidarity and, as has happened, to demonize China or
Russia.
Infamous campaigns, such as most recently in the Bild newspaper, are currently being spread on a global scale. On
the basis of false claims they claim that China has violated
international law and is obliged to compensate foreign governments for
the damages of the corona crisis. Such
accusations and insults are widely distributed in numerous articles in
print media, on television and radio and on social media platforms.
These campaigns mainly originate from neocons and right-wing populists in Europe and the United States. And from circles around Trump and his former advisor Steve
Bannon, who has excellent connections to international right-wing
networks. And it is mostly the same circles that are demonizing Russia, Syria, Venezuela and Iran.
We ask all those responsible to act within the meaning of this letter.
Solidarity is the tenderness of the peoples!
SEE LIST OF SIGNATORIES HERE
Please fill in your name and place of residence in above form.
The information will be published in the list of signatures below.
SEE LIST OF SIGNATORIES HERE
Or send your name and place of residence directly to the following e-mail:
info@hbuecker.net
The letter was published on April 17, 2020
Please also support the COVID-19 Global Solidarity Manifesto LINK
Our letter from Berlin: international solidarity in the corona crisis.
refers to the following letter, the text of which we are postig below:
Open
letter from the spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy in Germany to the
BILD editor-in-chief regarding the reporting on April 15, 2020
http://www.china-botschaft.de/det/sgyw/t1770161.htm
Dear Mr. Reichelt, dear members of the BILD editor-in-chief,
With
some surprise I have today your reporting on the corona pandemic in
general and on the supposed one China's guilt in particular is
persecuted. Apart
from the fact that we consider it a pretty bad style to hold a country
responsible for a pandemic that is affecting the whole world and then
to present an explicit account of alleged Chinese debts to Germany, the
article ignores some essential ones Facts.
You
write that the virus spread, "also because the Chinese leadership
suppressed important information for weeks." And: "China has violated
its information obligations to the World Health Organization (WHO)."
We note: On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities informed the WHO about cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan. From January 3, 2020, China regularly informed the WHO and other countries such as the United States of the progress. At that time, Wuhan reported 44 patients with the mysterious illness. On January 8, 2020, the pathogen SARS-CoV-2 was identified for the first time. On
January 11, China publicly posted complete genome sequences of the
novel corona virus online and shared the genetic data with the WHO. On
January 20, China confirmed the transmission of the novel corona virus
from person to person based on sound epidemiological studies. Three days later, the metropolis of Wuhan was cordoned off and unprecedented comprehensive, thorough and rigorous quarantine measures have been taken nationwide. The
WHO confirms exactly this timeline and you can read it here:
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/08-04-2020-who-timeline—covid-19. Finally, on March 11, the WHO declared the disease caused by the Covid 19 virus a pandemic.
They
write: "The British think tank Henry Jackson Society comes to the end
in a current study: China is LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE for the economic
consequences."
We
state: Many countries that are now struggling with COVID-19 have had
time to prepare for the cross-border spread of the pathogen after China
reported its outbreak under the IHR guidelines. The
claims of a few politicians, experts or media representatives that
China had acted unlawfully under international law and is now obliged
to compensate foreign governments is not really about international
law, international law. They want mutual blame to distract them from their own failures and weaknesses.
Finally,
allow me to make a personal remark: We regard the style in which you
“campaign” against China in your report today on page 2 as infamous. Your report not only lacks essential facts and precise timings, but also a minimum of journalistic due diligence and fairness. Anyone who sets off the way you do with today's BILD newspaper fuels nationalism, prejudice and xenophobia and xenophobia. It does not do justice to the traditional friendship between the two peoples, nor a serious understanding of journalism.
Against this background, I ask myself, where in your editorial office does the dislike of our people and our state come from? There is no script for a crisis of this magnitude. Germany
also has to revise its contingency plan, which was well thought out at
the time, according to the German Infection Protection Act. It's more than ever that we learn and cooperate from the pandemic crisis. In
the meantime, well-known international scientists also confirm that
China's swift and decisive action has made an important contribution to
containing this pandemic and has gained at least one month's time for
the rest of the world. Unfortunately, we do not read anything about this in your contribution.
Sincerely,
Tao Lili
spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy in Germany
Erklärung des kubanischen Aussenministeriums vom 16.4.2020
LINK
