People are the ‘true heroes’ of battle

Alisa Topchiy

Alisa Topchiy, 22, is an honors graduate in linguistics and international communication. She is currently studying for a master’s in classical philosophy at Russia’s Saint Petersburg State University. Last year, she took part in the inaugural China Daily 21st Century Cup International English Speaking Competition and the first Belt and Road Youth English Speaking Competition. Topchiy believes in international friendship and considers herself a global citizen.

With the number of novel coronavirus cases climbing around the world, cooperation will be the only way to destroy it, said Alisa Topchiy, a student at Saint Petersburg State University in Russia. Topchiy’s family has moved out of Saint Petersburg to the countryside to help protect her 82-year-old grandmother, who survived the siege of Leningrad during World War II, from the virus.

Despite the relative solitude, Topchiy cannot avoid news about the virus, which has “penetrated the lives of everyone everywhere in the world”. “The whole globe seems to have plunged into a bottomless ocean, an ocean of uncertainty and fear,” the 22-year-old said at the Vision China online event, adding that only by working together can we find a solution. “I believe that the coronavirus is above politics,” she said.

The good news for her is that China and Russia have offered each other, and the world, a helping hand to cope with the unprecedented challenge.

Over the past few weeks China has donated coronavirus testing kits to Cambodia and sent planeloads of ventilators, masks and medical personnel to Italy, France, Pakistan, Spain and other countries. By April 10, China had provided assistance to more than 120 countries and four international organizations amid the outbreak, she said. China has published a timeline on how it has shared information and advanced international cooperation to fight the deadly pneumonia.

Topchiy expressed her gratitude to all the medical workers who risked their lives to save others, and young people who have volunteered to take food and medicine to elderly people. She also praised the Chinese people’s dedication and courage in fighting the virus. “Over hundreds, and even thousands of years, humanity has faced a lot of terrible disasters … but every time those attempts to wipe us out fail, and humanity prevails,” she said.

The Chinese experience meant the time when the coronavirus was consigned to history was just around the corner.

“Citizens of the People’s Republic of China, I salute you. You are true heroes,” she said.