Leaders of China-ASEAN people-to-people friendship organizations issue a joint declaration on working in solidarity and opposing politicization of COVID-19 pandemic

Xu Yiyi

O n July 30， the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the China-ASEAN Association held the Special Leaders Meeting of China-ASEAN Peopleto-People Friendship Organizations via video link in Beijing. Leaders of people-to-people friendship organizations from China and 10 ASEAN countries had candid， in-depth exchanges under the theme of “working in solidarity to fight against the pandemic， promote economic recovery and safeguard regional and global peace， stability and development”. They reached broad consensus and agreed to issue a joint declaration on working in solidarity and opposing politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic. The full text follows.

We， leaders of ASEAN and China people-to-people friendship organizations or associations， held the Special Leaders Meeting of ASEAN-China People-to-People Friendship Organizations on July 30， 2021， via video link under the theme of “Working in soli- darity to fight against the pandemic， promote economic recovery and safeguard regional and global peace， stability and development”. After sincere， friendly and in-depth communication and discussion， we reached broad consensus and decided to issue the following joint declaration：

We speak highly of the milestone achievements of China-ASEAN dialogue relations over the past three decades. We are pleased and satisfied with the achievements of the exchanges and cooperation in political， economic， cultural， regional and international affairs and other fields between the two sides， which have brought tangible benefits to the two peoples.

We believe that over the past 30 years， the people-to-people friendship between China and ASEAN has also made satisfactory headway， played an important and fundamental role and harvested fruitful results. We stand ready to further strengthen friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation among the peoples in various fields and continuously promote closer people-to- people friendship and understanding between China and ASEAN.

We note that the COVID-19 pandemic is still ravaging the world， and the situation of prevention and control is still grim. Some ASEAN countries are experiencing a new wave of the pandemic. We highly appreciate the mutual assistance between China and ASEAN countries in overcoming difficulties， which has set a good example for international cooperation in fighting against the pandemic. We are ready to continue our solidarity and mutual assistance to defeat COVID-19 at an early date， restore the order of work and life in all countries， maintain regional peace and stability and promote common prosperity.

We believe that mankind lives in a community with a shared future. We believe that the novel coronavirus is the common enemy of humanity， that the origin-tracing of the coronavirus is a serious issue of science and that the international community can only overcome the pandemic by working together and adopting a scientific approach.We support scientists carrying out objective and transparent tracing of the source of the virus globally. We call on the international community to respect life and science， work together to protect the common home of mankind and peoples life and health and firmly oppose the politicization of the pandemic and the origin-tracing of the virus.

We support ASEAN and China jointly safeguarding the international system centered on the United Nations and the international order underpinned by international law， firmly upholding real multilateralism， promoting the building of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect， fairness， justice and win-win cooperation， and building an even closer ChinaASEAN community with a shared future.

We look forward to an early end to the pandemic. We are willing to continue bilateral and multilateral friendly exchanges and dialogues by online or offline means， and maintain the warmth and frequency of meetings between China and ASEAN friendship organizations. We stand ready to support the Laos-China Friendship Association in hosting the 13th Conference on ChinaASEAN People-to-People Friendship at the end of this year， thus achieving new progress in the cause of China-ASEAN people-to-people friendship.

List of friendship organizations participating in the meeting：

Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries

China-ASEAN Association

Brunei-China Friendship Association

Cambodia-China Friendship As- sociation

Association for Indonesia-China Economic， Social and Cultural Cooperation

Laos-China Friendship Association

Malaysia-China Friendship Association

Myanmar-China Friendship Association

Association for Philippines-China Understanding

Singapore-China Friendship Association

Thailand-China Friendship Association

Federation of Friendship Organizations in Vietnam

Vietnam-China Friendship Association.