CCTV: According to reports, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Management recently reported the financial situation of the organization to the General Assembly. Altogether 43 countries including China have paid their assessed contributions and peacekeeping assessments for 2020 in full. The UN is facing such difficulties as insufficient liquidity and delayed payment of assessed contributions from member states. I wonder if you have a comment?

Hua Chunying: As the second largest contributor to the UN and a responsible country, China always earnestly fulfills its financial obligations to the UN. We have paid our assessed contributions and peacekeeping assessments for 2020 in full, showing support to the UN with concrete action.

It is a legally-binding obligation for all member states to pay their assessed contributions on time and in full. All member states should earnestly fulfill this obligation, help ease the UN's financial difficulties and support its work.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the UN. As the world is confronted by various global challenges including COVID-19, it serves our shared interests to uphold multilateralism and safeguard the international system with the UN at its core. China stands ready to work with other countries to support the UN's work so it can play a bigger role in promoting world peace and development.

Yonhap News: DPRK leader Kim Jong Un sent a verbal message to President Xi Jinping to congratulate China on its victory over the epidemic. What's your comment?

Hua Chunying: I have no information for you at the moment. China and the DPRK are friendly neighbors linked by rivers and mountains. We are in close communication on combating the epidemics. China stands ready to step up communication and cooperation with the DPRK to jointly fight the virus and advance bilateral relations.

Xinhua News Agency: According to a recent research by Singapore-based insights agency Blackbox Research, which asked respondents to rate their nations' response to the novel coronavirus, China ranked highest in the citizens' survey. 85% of Chinese people said they believe their country will come out of the crisis stronger, compared to 41% of Americans. Do you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: I noted relevant reports. The COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging in many places around the world, posing enormous threats to the life and health of people in all countries. Countries are taking targeted prevention and control measures according to their own national conditions. Since the epidemic broke out, the Chinese government and people, united as one, has taken the most comprehensive, rigorous and thorough measures in this all-out, people's war against the virus. After making arduous efforts, we have achieved major strategic outcomes in this battle. We believe it's imperative to show understanding and respect to each country's efforts and share useful experience with each other. China stands ready to strengthen information-sharing, have in-depth exchange of experience and conduct effective cooperation on COVID-19 with other countries. We hope with concerted efforts from all countries we can win this battle at an early date.

The Paper: US Secretary Pompeo and State Department Spokesperson Ortagus recently said in multiple interviews that the virus originated from Wuhan; China was aware of the epidemic last December but didn't act fast enough; China's data is not factual or accurate; the international community should hold China accountable, seek damages and conduct investigations. I wonder if you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: Indeed, Secretary Pompeo, State Department Spokesperson and others seemed to be busy taking interviews lately, where they continued unwarranted attacks against China on COVID-19, accusing China of not acting fast enough or providing accurate data, and calling for investigations to hold it accountable. We've repeatedly stated our position on these. However, since the US kept repeating these lies, we must strive to help the world see the truth through facts time and again.

They claimed China didn't act fast enough. China is among the first countries hit by COVID-19. We have repeatedly shared the timeline of China's response. On December 27, 2019, relevant Wuhan authorities received the first report of suspected cases. On December 30, Wuhan Municipal Health Committee issued an "urgent notice on the treatment of pneumonia of unknown cause". From January 3, 2020, China started to send timely updates to WHO, relevant countries including the US and regions. On January 7, China CDC identified the first novel coronavirus strain. On January 12, the NHC shared genetic sequencing information of the virus with WHO. On January 23, Wuhan entered lockdown. On April 8, the lockdown was lifted. To date, there have been no new local confirmed cases for 5 days in a row and no fatalities for 23 consecutive days.

Now let's turn to the US. On January 3, it was officially notified by the Chinese side and started receiving daily updates. On January 25, it was the first to withdraw all personnel from its Consulate-General in Wuhan, and there was one confirmed case in the US. On February 2, it closed its border to all Chinese citizens and foreigners who had been to China in the past 14 days. There were 11 confirmed cases then according to official data from the US. On March 13, it declared a national state of emergency. At that point the number rose to 1,264. On March 19, confirmed cases passed 10,000. On March 27, the number surged to more than 100,000. On April 8, when the lockdown on Wuhan was lifted, the number of confirmed cases in the US was 400,000. Today, it's more than 1.2 million, with more than 70,000 fatal cases. Who didn't act fast enough? The facts are as plain as day. Just compare the numbers. It's simple math.

They questioned the factuality of China's numbers. People in their right mind will not assert blindly that other people are lying just because others' numbers look better than their own. This is not children playing make-believe. The fight against the virus is a serious matter of life and death. Behind every number is a living human being, a family. China has been open, transparent and responsible in releasing information on the epidemic. The revision of data in Wuhan shows a sense of responsibility to history, to the people and to the lives lost to the virus. It can stand the test of history. We hope the US can also make sure that what they say and do and their data is responsible to the people and could stand the test of history.

They talked about accountability and compensations. As was mentioned just now, survey results from Singapore show the Chinese people giving their government the highest rating for its response to COVID-19. Heads of the UN, WHO and many countries as well as medical experts in disease control all spoke highly of China's swift, strong and effective response which contributed to the global fight. I wonder what is the accountability a few Americans have in mind? Despite having unrivaled medical resources and technology, the US is registering the highest numbers of confirmed cases and fatal cases in the world. In spite of all this, some are still openly deflecting responsibility to China. Have they no shame? Don't they owe the American people an apology? Disregarding facts and shifting blame to China only illustrate