Source: Office of the SYSU CPC Committee
Written by: Li Jinhua
Translated by: Wu Suizhen
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On the afternoon of November 4, the Sun Yat-sen University Report and Commendation Meeting on the Fight against the COVID-19 Epidemic was held in K.K. Leung Hall on Guangzhou South Campus. The meeting was attended by nearly 1,000 people, including members of the university leadership, assistant presidents, representatives of academicians, representatives of non-CPC personages, heads of schools, functional departments and affiliated hospitals, representatives of medical professionals from the affiliated hospitals, as well as representatives of faculty, staff, students and alumni. The meeting was livestreamed through SYSU’s media convergence platform to parallel sessions on Guangzhou North Campus, Guangzhou East Campus, Zhuhai Campus and Shenzhen Campus.

At the meeting, 26 groups and 1,933 individuals from the university were commended for their roles in fighting the epidemic. 33 representatives of front line medical workers came on the stage to receive honorary medals from Secretary Chen Chunsheng and President Luo Jun. The meeting was presided over by Deputy Secretary Yu Minbin. All participants rose to show respect for the heroes with long-lasting applause.
Secretary Chen Chunsheng delivered a speech at the meeting. On behalf of the university, he paid highest tribute to the medical professionals, faculty, staff and students for their contributions to the fight against COVID-19, and expressed sincere gratitude to the alumni and friends from all walks of life at home and abroad for their help in combating the epidemic.

Secretary Chen Chunsheng reviewed the university’s efforts in fighting the epidemic. After the outbreak of COVID-19 in the beginning of this year, SYSU immediately responded to the the call of the Party and the country. With utmost speed and to the maximum extent, SYSU utilized its medical strengths and dispatched medical professionals to Wuhan; effectively shouldered the responsibility of designated hospitals for the treatment, prevention and control of COVID-19 in Guangdong province; and sent healthcare professionals to areas within Guangdong province and even Serbia to help with their fight against the epidemic. He also introduced SYSU medical professionals’ participation and achievements in key scientific researches on COVID-19; SYSU faculty, staff and students’ participation in the prevention and control efforts across the country; as well as donations from SYSU alumni supporting the fight against the epidemic.

Secretary Chen Chunsheng pointed out that in the battle against COVID-19, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the Chinese people and the Chinese nation have fought fearlessly, forging the spirit of combating the epidemic, which features putting people's lives first, nationwide solidarity, sacrifice, respecting science, and a sense of mission for humanity. A batch of outstanding SYSU groups and individuals have emerged in the COVID-19 fight. He stressed that we should bear clearly in mind the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core and keep in alignment; develop greater confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics; and firmly uphold General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position in both the Party Central Committee and the Party as a whole, and firmly uphold the Party Central Committee's authority and its centralized, unified leadership. We should learn from the anti-epidemic heroes and carry forward the spirit of combating the epidemic, put patriotic feeling into our ordinary work and unremitting efforts, normalize prevention and control measures, and promote the development of the university.

President Luo Jun delivered the presentation speech for the role models. He praised the courage, sense of responsibility, professionalism and boundless love of SYSU’s front line medical workers in the fight against the epidemic, saying that these heroes have demonstrated their love for the country and the spirit of SYSUers. He stressed that the names of the role models might sound ordinary, but these names shone in the spring of 2020, in the history of SYSU, and in the heart of everyone.
The meeting was divided into four chapters namely “Solidarity”, "Sacrifice”, "Sense of Mission for Humanity” and “Putting Lives First’. Representatives of model groups and individuals shared their stories on site. Guan Xiangdong, one of the “eight nationwide renowned specialists on intensive care” from SYSU’s First Affiliated Hospital, who was helping on the anti-epidemic front line in Kashi, Xinjiang, met the audience via video connections. The touching stories of SYSUers fighting COVID-19 across the country and even worldwide won bursts of applause from the audience, and many were moved to tears.
A special documentary was shown during the meeting to demonstrate the measures adopted by the SYSU CPC Committee and the outstanding work accomplished by SYSU’s affiliated hospitals in the fight against COVID-19. A staff member from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital presented his original song Against the Wind which was specially written for the fight against the epidemic. Representatives of teachers, students and alumni together sang We Are China, We Are A Family. On the stage the scenes were reconstructed showing SYSU medical workers taking the initiative to fight on the front line at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, and joining the CPC on the front line of the fight against the epidemic. All Party members at the meeting took Party admission oath. The meeting ended with participants singing together Ode to the Motherland.