CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Friday, August 13, 2021 | 3 TOP NEWS Celebrating reopening Nations called Over 70 officials on to respect China’s judicial punished for sovereignty

By Zhou Jin and Mo Jingxi delinquency in China denounced Canada on Thursday for having rallied a handful of countries to make irresponsible remarks about China’s lawful dealing epidemic control in the cases of two Canadians, and it urged the countries to respect its judicial sovereignty. Canadian national Michael Spavor Vice-premier calls for greater diligence, was sentenced to 11 years in prison strict enforcement of quarantine rules on Wednesday for espionage and ille- gal provision of State secrets abroad, a day after the death penalty of Cana- By CANG WEI in Nanjing On Saturday, six officials in Nan- dian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg for and ZHENG CAIXIONG jing, including Vice-Mayor Hu Wan- drug smuggling was upheld by a jin, were also given punishments. court of appeal. Chinese governments at different In Guangzhou, prov- Chinese courts have publicly pro- levels punished more than 70 offi- ince, two vice-mayors were among nounced the judgments in accord- cials across the nation for failing to 20 Party and government officials ance with law on the basis of the properly perform duties in COVID- disciplined after the COVID-19 out- trials and investigation of the 19 control in support of stringent break in relation to imported cases Residents celebrate a community’s reopening after a 14-day lockdown in Chengdu, province, crimes, and these two defendants measures against the virus. between May 21 and June 19, the on Wednesday. The community was designated a medium-risk area for COVID-19 and put under full legal rights have been fully The anti-graft body in Nanjing, Guangdong Commission for Disci- a lockdown on July 28. HUA XIAOFENG / FOR CHINA DAILY guaranteed, Foreign Ministry province, announced pline Inspection said on Thursday. spokeswoman Hua Chunying said recently that three officials working As of Thursday, officials in in a statement. at the city’s Lukou subdistrict had Zhengzhou, province, Yan- Canada accused China of “arbi- been detained by discipline inspec- tai, Shan­dong province, and Study: Virus likely appeared in late summer 2019 trary detention” of Spavor and tion authorities on suspicion of seri- Zhangjiajie, province, had “arbitrarily” applying the death sen- ous violations of Party discipline received punishments from disci- From page 1 allel outside China as the virus horseshoe bats, even outside of tence to Schellenberg. It called for and laws for allegedly failing to per- plinary watchdogs for improperly was circulating in other geo- China. Spavor’s release and for Schellen- form duties effectively as required dealing with the epidemic. Another finding in the Italian graphical areas, as also already The expert said one of the big- berg to be granted clemency. These to contain the virus. The punishments were given for report is that scientists have previously hypothesized,” the gest questions surrounding the claims have been supported by the The Nanjing Lukou International officials’ failure to act aggressively detected multiple variants of the study said. multiple-origin hypothesis is that United Kingdom, the European Airport, located in the subdistrict, enough against the coronavirus, the novel coronavirus circulating A -based epidemiologist, “if the virus has been circulating Union and some other countries. was found negligent in sanitation commission said. during the pre-pandemic period. who requested anonymity, said in other parts of the world, why Hua said that Canada’s criticism and change-of-clothing protocols “China has carried out effective “These results confirm recent the study supports the hypothesis wasn’t there an increase of pneu- of the two cases and the countries’ when monitoring its cabin clean- containment methods for more than computational findings that sev- that SARS-CoV-2 may have origi- monia-like diseases in those disregard of the facts and confusion ers, which caused China’s most a year since COVID-19 broke out,” Hu eral SARS-CoV-2 lineages had nated and evolved in different regions prior to the out- of right with wrong, go against the severe coronavirus outbreak since Yinglian, a professor at the Chinese been spreading worldwide at parts of the world before the first break?” spirit of the rule of law. the epidemic subsided last year. Academy of Governance, told China least for several weeks before the reported outbreak occurred in One answer is that early strains Regardless of the nationality of On Wednesday, Yangzhou Daily. “Some local officials are reluc- first reported COVID-19 cases,” Wuhan. of SARS-CoV-2 may not have the criminals, the judicial organs reported 37 new confirmed cases, tant to implement the policy. ... It’s the paper said. “It gives a reason for scientists been as transmissible among strictly handled their cases in more than any other city. While not the fault of the decision-making Based on the examined evi- around the world to check their humans as some later mutated accordance with the law and treated Nanjing has reported 234 locally at the policy level, but ineffective dence, they found that some of the lab’s freezers, blood banks and oth- variants. The virus may have them equally, she said, adding that transmitted cases since July 20, the implementation in practice that coronavirus’ mutations first er sample stores for traces of been attempting to spill over no foreign identity can shield them COVID-19 tally in Yangzhou has resulted in the transmission of the reported in January 2020 were SARS-CoV-2 and its relatives,” the from nature into the human pop- from the law. risen to 485 in that period. virus to many Chinese cities. already present in strains from expert said, adding such retrospec- ulation for years, if not decades, While claiming to be a champion Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan “Case by case, these examples warn Northern Italy in October 2019, tive studies have yielded surpris- and after numerous trials and of the “rule of law” and “judicial emphasized the need for more dili- us never to relax,” he said. “Disease suggesting that a lineage of the ing discoveries on coronavirus. errors, it finally accumulated the independence”, Canada blatantly gent efforts and resolute measures containment is essential to economic virus substantially different from Such is the case of HCoV-HKU1, right traits and suddenly became interferes in the independent and to contain the virus in Yangzhou. development and people’s livelihoods the strain that first emerged in a human-infecting coronavirus highly successful at infecting lawful handling of cases by Chinese Sun, also a member of the Politi- at this specific stage. The CPC and Wuhan, province, in that was first reported in 2004, humans, the expert said. judicial organs, she said. cal Bureau of the Communist Party Chinese government will always put December 2019 was already circu- only to be later found in samples “To know that a different ver- The interference trampled on the of China Central Committee, made people’s health as top priority even at lating in the region. collected in Brazil in 1995. sion of the virus was already circu- spirit that everyone is equal before the remarks when she inspected the expense of huge economic losses.” This may push back the predict- The journal Nature reported in lating in Northern Italy can the law and fully exposed Canada’s Yangzhou on Wednesday. At a news conference early this ed date of the progenitor SARS- November that scientists have substantiate this proposed expla- hypocrisy in adopting “double stan- She asked the Yangzhou govern- month, Zhang Wenhong, head of the CoV-2 to between late June 2019 discovered relatives of the COV- nation,” the expert said. “There dards” and its true intention of ment to increase efficiency and coor- Center for Infectious Diseases at and late August 2019, the study ID-19 virus in Cambodia’s Sham- are still so many questions sur- politicizing legal issues, she said. dination, and to show a great sense Huashan Hospital of Fudan Universi- said. el’s horseshoe bats captured in rounding the origin of the SARS- Attempts at engaging in “mega- of responsibility and do a better job. ty in , said: “It is not the first “Although it is possible that 2010, as well as in frozen bat drop- CoV-2, and I hope more scientists phone diplomacy” and forming Sun also called for better manage- time that China has fought against the viruses carrying the mutations pings from Japanese horseshoe from other countries can meticu- small cliques to suppress China ment for nucleic acid testing, strict Delta variant. We successfully con- were imported into Europe, it is bats collected in 2013. These find- lously and bravely reexamine have failed in the past and will never enforcement of quarantine meas- tained the outbreak in Guangzhou, also conceivable that these ings suggest that relatives of their collected samples and con- succeed in the future, she added. ures for high-risk people and com- and the outbreak in Nanjing is gradu- mutations have evolved in par- SARS-CoV-2 may be common in tribute to finding the answers.” munities and asked the city to open ally being brought under control.” US bill denounced more quarantine stations. China’s past experience in preven- In another statement on Thurs- Sun met with Qinjian, Jiangsu’s tion, control and treatment has day, Hua said that Beijing strongly Party secretary, Governor Wu Zheng-­ been effective so far, Zhang stressed. Infected woman has healthy triplets protested to Washington about a long and relevant departments to ana- On Wednesday, the Chinese main- bill passed by the United States lyze the current epidemic situation to land recorded 10 local cases in Hubei, Senate to help regain observer sta- improve the virus control work. seven in Hunan,­ and three each in By LI YINGQING in Kunming tus for Taiwan in the World Health Also in Yangzhou, eight officials Henan and Yunnan, the National and Zhou Huiying Organization, calling the move “a were given punishments on Sunday Health Commission said on Thursday. political manipulation by a handful that ranged from administrative A 29-year-old pregnant woman of anti-China politicians”. demerits to notices of criticism for Contact the writers at who was infected with COVID-19 With only a few senators present, failing to contain the virus effectively. [email protected] gave birth on Wednesday to healthy the US Senate approved on Aug 6 triplets at a hospital in Ruili, Yun- with so-called unanimous consent a nan province, according to the pro- bill that called on the US State vincial Health Commission. Department to submit a plan to help Sinopharm leads delivery of It is the first time in China that a Taiwan regain its observer status at COVID-19 patient successfully the World Health Assembly, the gave birth to triplets, the commis- WHO’s decision-making body. COVID vaccines via COVAX sion said. Hua said this bill gravely violates The three baby boys, weigh- the one-China principle and the By Wang Xiaoyu Fund, one of the co-leaders of the ing 1.62, 1.58 and 1.59 kilograms, three China-US joint communi- [email protected] COVAX program, said on Wednesday tested negative for the novel ques, severely runs counter to that another 5.1 million Sinopharm coronavirus. international law and the basic More than 2.6 million COVID-19 doses were scheduled to arrive Bang- On July 9, a woman from Ruili’s norms governing international vaccine doses from Chinese com- ladesh in the next four days to boost town of Wanding surnamed Zi relations, and grossly interferes in pany Sinopharm arrived in Paki- the national vaccination drive. was sent to Ruili Dai Medicine China’s internal affairs. stan and Bangladesh this week as Yan added that China and Bang- and Traditional Chinese Medicine Medical workers attend to one of the triplets born to a 29-year-old “China deplores and firmly rejects part of international efforts to ladesh will soon start coproduc- Hospital, a designated hospital pregnant woman who was infected with COVID-19, in Ruili, Yunnan the US Senate’s move,” she said. help developing countries tackle tion of the vaccine. Building joint for COVID-19 patients. province, on Wednesday. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY According to resolutions of the the pandemic. production facilities overseas to A team of 32 obstetric, respirato- United Nations General Assembly A shipment of 1.7 million doses manufacture China-developed vac- ry and neonatology medical work- Zi’s condition improved their mother are in stable con- and the WHA, the participation of was sent from Beijing on Tuesday cines has become an increasingly ers from the province, Ruili and the somewhat through the inten- dition now.” China’s Taiwan region in WHO morning and arrived in Dhaka, popular approach to boosting local Dehong Dai and Jingpo autono- sive care she received from the Since the start of the COVID- events must be handled in accord- capital of Bangladesh, in the vaccine supplies. mous prefecture, which adminis- nursing staff. 19 pandemic in early 2020, ance with the one-China principle. evening, the company said. Mushtaq Hussain, an adviser to ters Ruili, arrived at the hospital on “A team of nurses cared for her many pregnant women infected Noting that the Chinese central More than 976,000 doses of Sino- Bangladesh’s Institute of Epidemiol- July 11 to treat the woman and try and kept her under 24-hour medi- with the novel coronavirus have government attaches great impor- pharm’s two-shot vaccine arrived in ogy, Disease Control and Research, to prevent a premature birth. cal observation,” said Xu Yan, head given birth to healthy babies in tance to the health and well-being Pakistan’s capital Islamabad on said during an interview with Xin- “The team and medical sup- nurse of the obstetrics depart- hospitals across the country. of compatriots in the Taiwan Wednesday morning. hua News Agency that Chinese vac- plies were transported to the hos- ment of Mangshi People’s Hospi- On Jan 30, 2020, a woman who region, Hua said that appropriate Yan Hualong, minister counsel- cines had come at a critical moment pital,” said team member Chen tal. “We specially made recipes for was 38 weeks pregnant and arrangements for the Taiwan or of the Chinese embassy in Bang- for his country and will greatly help Zhuo, associate chief physician in foods based on her preferences infected with the novel coronavi- region’s participation in global ladesh, said in an online post that the rollout of the nationwide immu- the obstetrics department of the that would improve her nutrition, rus gave birth to a healthy baby health affairs have been made an additional 1.77 million Sino- nization campaign. First Affiliated Hospital of Kun- and we provided psychological girl in a hospital in Harbin, Hei- under the precondition of abiding pharm doses under the COVAX One local vaccination chief told ming Medical University. care to boost her confidence in longjiang province. by the one-China principle. program were transported from Xinhua that Chinese vaccines have “We made a treatment plan aft- overcoming the disease.” The baby weighed 3.05 kilograms “We urge the US Congress to fully Beijing on Wednesday and would proved effective against the Delta er evaluating Zi’s respiratory cir- Early Wednesday morning, Zi and was given a perfect 10 Apgar recognize the highly sensitive arrive in Dhaka via Doha, Qatar’s variant. Bangladesh is coping with a culation and made a plan and had a serious liver complication score at birth, meaning she was at nature of the Taiwan question,” Hua capital city. surge of new cases fueled by the high- process of operations to prevent that sometimes occurs during low risk of neonatal death. The girl said, urging that it refrain from Sinopharm has pledged to supply ly contagious strain. premature delivery and to moni- pregnancy, and the team decided tested negative for COVID-19 and helping the Taiwan region expand 170 million COVID-19 doses by the Another Chinese drugmaker, tor intrauterine fetal safety.” to deliver the babies immediately was discharged from the hospital so-called “international space” or first half of next year to COVAX, an Sinovac Biotech, plans to provide Chen said that because the by Cesarean section. on Feb 4. Six days later, her mother sending any wrong signal to the international initiative that distrib- 380 million doses of its COVID-19 team came from several hospitals, “The operation was success- recovered and was also discharged. “Taiwan independence” forces. utes vaccines to low- and middle- vaccine to COVAX by June 2022. they practiced together ahead of ful, and the babies have been income countries. The first shipment will arrive in time to deal with several possible moved to quarantine wards,” Contact the writers at Contact the writers at The United Nations Children’s Algeria this month. neonatal emergencies. Chen said. “The babies and [email protected] [email protected]