by Xinhua writer Ye Shan
TOKYO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Wednesday marks the ninth anniversary of the powerful earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan in 2011.
After the natural disasters, China soon delivered 20,000 tons of fuel and other urgently needed emergency aid to its neighbor. Chinese rescue personnel were also immediately dispatched to the quake-hit region.
Nine years later, the two peoples are again joining hands in the face of another major disaster -- the COVID-19 epidemic.
The epidemic knows no boundaries, and neither do efforts to combat it. With a shared goal of overcoming the epidemic and safeguarding regional and global health security, China and Japan have set a vivid example of how to work together during a difficult time.
Since late January, China has received warm support from all sectors of Japan in fighting the COVID-19 outbreak.
Japan's Oita Prefecture, a sister prefecture of Wuhan, took the lead in donating following the outbreak, sending 30,000 face masks, 600 sets of protective clothing, and 400 pairs of goggles to the Chinese city on Jan. 27. Since then, other Japanese cities have also taken action to support China's battle against the epidemic.
"For Japan, when it sees a virus outbreak in China, it is like seeing a relative or neighbor suffering. The Japanese people are willing to help China and hope the outbreak will pass as soon as possible," said Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Now, the Chinese side has not hesitated to extend its helping hand when infections in Japan keep growing.
China has donated much-needed test kits to Japan. When supplies dwindled in Japan, Chinese nationals living in the country distributed masks -- which they went to great lengths to collect -- to pedestrians, expressing gratitude to the Japanese people for their help to China.
Facing the raging epidemic, China and Japan share the need to cope with the public health challenge and shoulder the responsibility to contain the spread of the virus, maintain social stability, and spur economic development in the region.
Speaking recently at a news conference, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appealed to the world to let solidarity be the antidote to blame, and let shared humanity be the antidote to the shared threat.
As China and Japan are helping each other to navigate this tough time, they are also making contributions to the world's final victory over the disease. If other countries in the international community can also honor the spirit of solidarity, then that victory will not be far away.
