China is to dispatch an elite unit of its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to help Liberia fight the Ebola epidemic, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday, responding to UN calls for a greater global effort to curb the outbreak in West Africa.
The US has led the international drive to stop the spread of the disease that has killed nearly 5,000 people, sending thousands of troops and committing about US$1 billion to the cause, but Beijing has faced criticism for not doing enough.
The PLA squad, which has epidemic experience from a 2002 outbreak of SARS, is to build a 100-bed treatment center in Liberia, the first such facility in the three nations most impacted by Ebola to be constructed and run by a foreign country, said Lin Songtian (林松添), director-general of the ministry’s Department of African Affairs.
Photo: EPA
The center is to open for operation in a month’s time, he told a press conference in Beijing. China is also to dispatch 480 PLA healthcare workers to treat Ebola patients, he said, adding that it is the first time Beijing has deployed a whole unit of epidemic prevention forces and military medical staff abroad.
China is Africa’s biggest trade partner, tapping the continent’s rich vein of resources to fuel its economic growth over the past couple of decades, which some have cited in criticizing Beijing for not helping more in Africa’s hour of need.
China has so far donated 750 million yuan (US$122.69 million) to 13 African nations and international organizations to combat Ebola, Beijing said.
“China’s assistance will not stop until the Ebola epidemic is eradicated in West Africa,” Lin said.
Last week, the White House responded to criticism that it — as the global superpower — was not doing enough by taking a veiled swipe at the contributions of Russia and China.
“When we have a situation like this on the global scene, people aren’t wondering what the Chinese are doing to respond to it. People aren’t picking up the phone and wondering if [Russian President] Vladimir Putin is going to commit Russian resources to this effort,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told a press conference. “People want to know what the United States of America is doing about it.”
China said in July that more than half its more than US$14 billion in foreign aid went to Africa. In comparison, the US spent about US$46 billion in fiscal 2015 on foreign aid programs.
China has also dispatched hundreds of aid workers to Africa to combat Ebola, including health experts and medical staff.
Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd, a Chinese drugmaker with military ties, has sent several thousand doses of an experimental Ebola drug to Africa and is planning clinical trials there.
Lin said that several thousand Chinese nationals live in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, and about 1 million reside on the continent.
The UN has called on foreign governments to ramp up efforts to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, requesting that they send more medical personnel there.
US and Chinese troops staged their first joint disaster-relief exercise last year, in a sign that China is eager to use its military muscle for humanitarian causes as it bids to win international support.
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