Invited by Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, currently the president of the G20, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend the G20 Extraordinary Foreign Ministers Meeting via videolink on September 3 in Beijing. Items to be discussed include cross-border flows of personnel and border management.

CCTV: The US House Select Subcommittee on Coronavirus Crisis released reports obtained from the White House task force, which indicate what the administration's officials told the public are in contradiction with those reports they privately issued to states. They have been deliberately covering up the truth of the pandemic. As a result, more than 58,000 additional Americans have died since June and millions of American lives have been put at risk. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a survey that among medical workers, roughly 1 in 20 had antibody evidence of a previous COVID-19 infection, but 69% of those infections had never been diagnosed. More and more people believe that in terms of epidemic response, the US stands in stark contrast with China. Do you have any comment?

Hua Chunying: I have no intention of judging the US response to COVID-19, but I recall what Dr. Fauci said, "Numbers don't lie."

Yesterday, CCTV broadcast an unusual, touching program "First Class of the New Semester", during which first-hand experience was shared by frontline medical experts and researchers including Dr. Zhong Nanshan, head of the high-level expert group of the National Health Commission, who was awarded the Medal of the Republic, and Zhang Boli, Zhang Dingyu and Chen Wei, who were awarded the national honorary title of "the People's Hero". The TV program had three sections: unity, science and responsibility. These three keywords, I believe, offer a good answer to why China is able to snatch a major strategic victory over the epidemic. As Dr. Zhong Nanshan said, after the outbound traffic from Wuhan was halted on January 23, this heroic city endured 76 days and 1,814 hours of lockdown. Thanks to such efforts, the number of infections in China has been reduced by at least 700,000. This is what our country believes in: nothing is more precious than life. Human life is the most important human right. We have saved so many lives, and this best manifests our human right. The CPC and the Chinese government have been putting the people front and center in the epidemic prevention and control endeavor. We have not only protected the safety and health of the Chinese people to the largest extent, but also made important contributions to the global fight against COVID-19 and the protection of life and health of people in the world.

On January 23, outbound traffic from Wuhan was suspended. Back then there was only one confirmed case in the US. On January 31, American airlines suspended direct flights between the US and China. On February 2, the US closed borders to all Chinese citizens when there were only more than 10 confirmed cases reported in the US. The timeline is clear. After China blocked the outbound transmission routes of the epidemic, why did the situation in the US see dramatic changes within just a few months? This is a question that deserves careful pondering and in-depth inquiry.

We sympathize with the American people for their difficult situation. We hope they can overcome the epidemics at an early date.

Macau Monthly: We noticed that State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi just concluded his visits to Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, France and Germany, which is seen by some media as China's engagement with Europe to break out of a diplomatic encirclement. I wonder what is your comment?

Hua Chunying: What you said is not accurate. To be precise, this is very important strategic communication between China and European countries when there are increasing uncertainties in the international landscape. The world now must choose between multilateralism and unilateralism, openness and isolation, and cooperation and confrontation. This is where China and Europe share broad and essential consensus.

During the visit, State Councilor Wang Yi had candid, in-depth discussions with leaders and foreign ministers of the five countries. All the five countries said they attach high importance to their relations with China, that they would like to resume exchange and cooperation with China as soon as possible, and that they are ready to enhance communication and coordination with China and handle global challenges together. They also expressed concerns of the world economy falling into deep recession due to the spreading pandemic, rising unilateralism that gravely undermines multilateralism, and escalated international competition and confrontation caused by artificial decoupling and division.

The two sides reached the following three important consensuses.

First, to stay committed to multilateralism and oppose unilateral practices. The strongest call of the five European countries is to firmly uphold multilateralism. They believe China and Europe need to enhance coordination, stick to multilateralism, take multilateral actions, observe multilateral agreements and strengthen multilateral institutions.

Second, to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and reject division and decoupling. Both sides agree to further cooperate in fighting the epidemics and resume people-to-people exchange and practical cooperation as soon as possible, which will be a China-Europe contribution to world economic recovery and growth. Both sides also agree to jointly reject the setbacks of instigation, division, decoupling and confrontation, so that the world will not be subject to the law of the jungle again.

Third, to uphold the big picture of China-Europe relations and properly manage differences. Both sides believe it is important to stick to the comprehensive strategic partnership and lead the mainstream effort to advance China-Europe relations. To resolve differences between the two sides, we must deepen mutual understanding and trust through equal-footed dialogue and candid discussion, achieve win-win results through mutually beneficial cooperation, and manage the differences through constructive means.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the EU. Both sides share a strong will to work together to further advance bilateral relations. In the next phase we have the following six goals.

First, to prepare for and conduct China-EU high-level exchange, which will guide bilateral cooperation. Second, to conclude the negotiations on a China-EU investment agreement within this year. Third, to sign the China-EU 2025 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation as early as possible. Fourth, to foster a green partnership. Fifth, to strengthen digital economic cooperation. Sixth, to enhance support for multilateral institutions.

As proven by facts, the development of China-EU relations not only brings gre