Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (DEM-MG) defended the improvement of the partnership between Brazil and China and reiterated “the importance of the mutually relevant and constructive relationship” between the two countries, in a message to the Chinese Ambassador Yang Wanming this Friday (7).
The protest comes two days after President Jair Bolsonaro (non-party) suggests Covid-19 is part of a biological warfare strategy for the Asian country.
“With a sense of priority, the Federal Senate understands that at a time when Brazil has been strongly affected by the proliferation of variants of the virus, it is more than ever necessary to improve the quality partnership that has characterized our relationship. bilateral, ”Pacheco wrote.
In another excerpt from the letter, he states that the Senate aims to expand Brazilian bilateral collaboration in areas such as science, technology, trade, investment and says that this effort “requires further dialogue. more intense and a constant improvement of political and diplomatic coordination. “.
Thursday (6), Beijing declared to oppose “any attempt to politicize and stigmatize the virus”.
The statement was made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin in response to a question by an AFP news agency reporter about the Brazilian president’s speech.
“The virus is the common enemy of mankind. The most urgent task now is for all countries to unite in cooperation against the pandemic and strive for a swift and complete victory over the epidemic,” said he replied during his weekly press conference in Beijing.
Bolsonaro insinuated that China would have benefited economically from the pandemic and said the new coronavirus could have been created in the laboratory – echoing a thesis that is not supported by a WHO investigation (World Health Organization ) on the possible origins of the virus.
“It’s a new virus, nobody knows if it was born in the laboratory or by a human being [que] ingested an inappropriate animal. But it is there. The military knows this is chemical, bacteriological and radiological warfare. Are we not facing a new war? ”, Said the president during an event at the Palácio do Planalto, in Brasilia.
“Which country has increased its GDP the most [Produto Interno Bruto]? I’m not going to tell you, “he said. China has been one of the fastest growing countries in 2020, even during the pandemic. The Asian country’s GDP has jumped 2.3% last year.
In addition to the president, other government officials in the Brazilian government have already suggested that the virus was artificially created by the Chinese. In a meeting, the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, said that “the Chinese invented the virus”. Then he apologized.
In the midst of the diplomatic crisis, Guedes and the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, had a virtual meeting this Friday with Wanming, in Brasilia.
The attacks on China have also been at the center of the political pressure that resulted in the resignation of former Chancellor Ernesto Araújo. The ex-minister’s anti-China rhetoric was reported today as an obstacle for Brazil to secure the release of vaccine supplies from the Asian country, one of the world’s major suppliers.
Carlos França, who replaced Ernesto, has tried to dispel unease with the Chinese, but recent statements by Bolsonaro and Guedes have the potential to renew friction with Beijing.
During a hearing at the Senate External Relations Committee on Thursday, France said there was no political issue between Brazil and the Asian country that could hamper production of Covid-19 vaccines.
In Friday’s letter, Pacheco invited the Chinese ambassador to visit the Senate “when the circumstances are favorable”.
The President of the Senate stressed the need to establish an “even more intense dialogue and a constant improvement of political and diplomatic coordination” between Brazil and China.