Coronavirus: Gov’t must treat its relationship with China in a tactful manner

The Director of the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Ghana, Dr. Lloyd Amoah, has urged government to treat its relationship with China with utmost tact, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

So far over 34,800 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed globally, with over 700 dead, a situation that has led to calls for the evacuation of Ghanaian students in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

But Dr. Lloyd Amoah said plans of evacuation must be handled in a manner that does not jeopardize the strong relationship between Ghana and China.

“We should not forget that China and Ghana, have very close relationships and we should be mindful of that. We should not create the impression of some kind of abandonment. You know that in Africa, when the Ebola broke out, the Chinese were with us. They brought in personnel and dealt with the crisis at the risk of the lives of their citizens. So we need to keep all this in perspective. If the disease passes, how do you want the Chinese to relate with you? Was it a panic reaction or was it was done in bad faith. We need to play this intelligently so that we look at the future with China in a proper way,” he said.

Since the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, many stakeholders, especially in the education sector, have called for the evacuation of Ghanaian students from China.