The 56th Munich Security Conference (MSC) held in Germany from February 14 to 16, 2020 coincided with the COVID-19 outbreak in China, and the international community has closely followed China’s nationwide efforts to contain the virus. China’s State Councilor Wang Yi spoke on the Conference about the country’s measures against the spread of coronavirus. The Conference raised the awareness of public health issues by inviting experts and scholars from the World Health Organization (WHO) and countries to the discussion. The Conference not only held the Townhall on the Coronavirus Outbreak, but also the Health Security Roundtable with a focus on issues including the outbreak and spread of the disease, deficiency and vulnerability in countries’ health systems, as well as the shortage of medicine supply.

On February 15, 9am, the MSC and WHO held the Townhall on the Coronavirus, which was hosted by Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and director of its Global Health Policy Center, and attended by Qin Gang, Vice Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Tang Bei, Associate Professor at Shanghai International Studies University, Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO Health Emergencies Program, Jeremy Farrar, infectious disease expert and Director of the Wellcome Trust, Paul Stoffels, Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson, Orin Levine, Director of Vaccine Delivery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Stefan Oschmann, Chief Executive Officer of Merck Group and others. Attendees mainly discussed the current situation related to COVID-19, countermeasures against the pandemic and impacts on the global economy, how to accelerate the development of vaccine and treatments to COVID-19, and how to expand international cooperation in this regard.

 Qin Gang

During the Conference, Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang briefed China’s efforts to combat COVID-19 and called for more rational global response to the outbreak and more support to China. Tang Bei, Associate Researcher at Shanghai International Studies University, shared her observations from the perspective of general public, about the sacrifice Chinese people have made to contain COVID-19, and suggested the international community to support and help China’s containment of the outbreak.

 Tang Bei

All attendees spoke highly of the efforts made by the Chinese government and Chinese people, highlighted the huge sacrifice by China to prevent the coronavirus from spreading overseas, appreciated China’s strong sense of responsibility, and encouraged support and help to China’s battle against the outbreak from the rest of the world. Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO Health Emergencies Program, said China now has best clinical experience in controlling the virus, and is most probable and likely to know more about the virus, so all governments should work with China. He said the rhetoric against China, such as “decoupling” and “blocking”, is unhelpful at all In terms of vaccine and new treatments, apart from asking China to provide information and statistics, the world can also shift the research focus to China to help speed up treatment development there. Jeremy Farrar, infectious disease expert and Director of the Wellcome Trust, pointed out that it was a turning point when China quickly decided on the lockdown strategy after the outbreak, which has bought more time for the international community to respond to and prepare for the pandemic. He believed the whole world should be thankful to China and further cooperate with China.

However, they also expressed their concerns about the medical capabilities of less developed counties in their handling of the pandemic. Michael Ryan said China has a strong healthcare system and could build a new hospital within 10 days, adding tens of thousands hospital beds overnight for quarantine, and that China’s impressive mobilization is rarely seen in the rest of the world. Orin Levine, Director of Vaccine Delivery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, proposed that the international community should keep a close eye on regions with underdeveloped healthcare and help them better prepare for the battle against COVID-19, considering the heavy blow on Africa’s healthcare system by the Ebola outbreak.

Orin Levine

It was also emphasized by attendees that the international community should think about best practices of global response to pandemics. Stefan Oschmann, Chief Executive Officer of Merck Group, stated that back in 2016, German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested the importance of learning how to tackle major health threats, because she believed compared with wars, epidemics are more likely to be the next trigger of world crisis. Five years have passed since then, and the world is still underprepared in its research and measures to deal with this problem, regardless of many other achievements. Severely limited funds have handicapped WHO’s services. Orin Levine pointed out that the international community should set up a whole new response mechanism for pandemic outbreak. Other attendees also called for more investment in research, development and production of vaccines.

 Stephan Oschmann

The MSC closed on February 16. In his closing speech, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger stated that China did not get a very fair deal to fight what has become a severe medical challenge not only to China, but to the entire world. He believed China deserves a little bit of compassion, support and encouragement, rather than only criticism.

Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference