China: No complaints on medical products ordered via diplomatic channel
CORONAVIRUS | Hit by claims by several countries that medical products received from China to combat Covid-19 were faulty, its Foreign Ministry today calls for complaints to be channelled to them instead of subjecting them to "political interpretations".
Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the ministry, said that many countries have been purchasing medical products from China recently, and the country would recommend qualified companies to those who raised their purchasing demands via a diplomatic channel....
CORONAVIRUS | Hit by claims by several countries that medical products received from China to combat Covid-19 were faulty, its Foreign Ministry today calls for complaints to be channelled to them instead of making "political interpretations".
Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for the ministry, said that many countries have been purchasing medical products from China recently, and the country would recommend qualified companies to those who raised their purchasing demands via a diplomatic channel.
"As far as I know, we haven't received any complaints from buyers about the products purchased via the above-mentioned channel," she said in a statement, which was published on the Facebook page of the China Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
Hua also mentioned several examples of complaints they have received over alleged faulty products made in China, which she said the republic had addressed the soonest possible.
This includes the case of Slovak officials who recently questioned the reliability of quick test kits to detect coronavirus purchased from China.
"The Chinese embassy in Slovakia immediately contacted the manufacturer in China. They came to the preliminary conclusion that Slovak medical workers used these antigen test kits incorrectly with a preceding method applicable to nucleic acid testing, which led to inaccurate results.
"Our embassy in Slovakia then issued a reminder on the correct use of different testing methods. The Slovak Foreign Ministry thanked China for its help at a difficult time, appreciated China's assistance in exporting medical supplies to Slovakia, and expressed readiness to enhance cooperation and experience-sharing with China," said Hua.
According to her, the Philippines health officials have also issued an apology for comments on the accuracy of China-provided testing reagents, after finding that the test kits produced identical results with those provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Hua said many countries intend to purchase medical products that are made in the republic, and their manufacturers have been working around the clock to help these countries.
She claimed that China, too, had come across several defective products when they received assistance during the beginning of their Covid-19 battle.
"However, we chose to believe and respect the kind intentions of these countries."
Besides Slovakia and the Philippines, the Malaysian health authority also recently issued a statement saying that the rapid test kit from China was found to be unreliable, showing low accuracy to detect antigens of Covid-19.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had last Friday told a press conference that the Health Ministry concluded their tests on a brand of rapid test kit that came from China, and decided not to purchase it for mass use by frontliners.
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