Foreigners recount anti-pandemic experiences in China at 2021 World Internet Conference
(ECNS) -- Three foreigners who lived in China during the pandemic shared their stories at the 2021 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit on Sunday about how China battled COVID-19 in 2020.
Stewart Thomas Wiggin, who comes from the U.K., has been living in China for 15 years. Back in February 2020, he refused to return home despite urging from the U.K. government.
“I've been living in China for so many years, so I’m confident in the Chinese government,” he said. For the past two years, Wiggin has witnessed how China has successfully contained COVID-19, producing several videos to narrate the situation within China to the world objectively.
Rachele Longhi, an Italian who has been living in China for five years, has recorded everything from the beginning of the pandemic till now. "For a country of more than 1.4 billion people, everyone must have made great efforts to ride the pandemic out," she said, “Thanks to the support and encouragement, I will stay in China, keep reporting on China, and promote the real China to the world.”
Ian Goodrum, a China Daily reporter born in the U.S. and a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), spoke highly of the work China has done to contain COVID. “We’ve returned to normal, and I have a lot of wonderful Chinese stories to share,” he said, “China’s way has been proved efficient many times.”
“Now China’s economy is recovering, but ironically, those countries that prefer their own interests to people’s lives are suffering heavy losses. Besides, they’re still blaming China and questioning China’s measures,” Goodrum said. “But we don’t need to care. We have our own stories to tell, and it is also why we are all here safe and sound,” he added.
The 2021 World Internet Conference Wuzhen, which kicked off on Sunday in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province, features 20 sub-forums under the theme of "Towards a New Era of Digital Civilization -- Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace."