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Coronavirus pandemic
ChinaDiplomacy

US and China set aside coronavirus differences and pledge to work together

  • Last week’s conversation between the leaders of the two countries has been followed up with a promise of cooperation from health officials
  • Call between China’s health minister and his US counterpart is their first telephone exchange since January

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An emergency field hospital is set up in New York’s Central Park to treat patients with Covid-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Photo: AFP
Catherine Wong
As the coronavirus death toll surges in the United States, Chinese and US health officials have pledged to work together to combat the pandemic, in their first telephone exchange in two months.
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According to China’s National Health Commission website, the phone call between its minister Ma Xiaowei and US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar took place on Monday night and included an assurance from Ma that China was willing to work with the US in managing the outbreak.

It was the first move towards medical cooperation between the two countries after last week’s phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump, when both leaders agreed they must work together to contain the spread of the virus.

China's Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei at a news conference in Beijing during the country’s battle with the epidemic. Photo: Reuters
China's Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei at a news conference in Beijing during the country’s battle with the epidemic. Photo: Reuters

On Monday, Trump said the United States had received medical supplies from Russia and China. “China sent us some stuff, which was terrific. Russia sent us a very, very large planeload of things, medical equipment which was very nice,” Trump told reporters.

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“Other countries sent us things that I was very surprised at, very happily surprised.”

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