Dear International Students,

How are you?

There is still one last page left in the calendar of 2020. As the new year is coming, all IEC teachers of your alma mater Wuhan Textile University sincerely wish you, your family and your friends a happy New Year! We also wish people around the world will not only get away from Covid-19 as soon as possible but also away from disease, harm, war and suffering! I sincerely hope that in the coming year of 2021, everything will get better soon and life and work will return to normal！

2020 is a very unusual year. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought disruptive damage to the production and life for the people around the world and caused the world to be in grief. Fortunately, we all survived. Through this year, we have an extraordinary experience in our life. Each of us has become more mature than before. The hardships we are experiencing today will become valuable spiritual wealth on our way to growth and success.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, as teachers, what worries us most is your health, study and emotion. For 2019 batch, we thought we would meet in February 2020, but no one expected that we would be apart for a year. During this period of time, you have been sending photos and videos of the study and life of your first semester in WTU, reflecting the unforgettable good time together. It shows your deep yearning for China and Wuhan Textile University!

For 2020 batch, we planned to meet in September 2020. Before that, we gave each student a Chinese name with auspicious meanings as we hope you have a safe study in China and a bright future. However, the epidemic blocked your journey to China and delayed our meeting. In the past half a year, although our meeting was only in online classes, in the videos you recorded, in the extracurricular activities, your expecting eyes in class, your serious attitude to make videos and our frequent interactions in the wechat groups make me clearly feel your deep feelings and missing for China and for WTU.

Dear all, there is an old Chinese saying ‘in adversity we see the truth’. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, we teachers and students have been caring for each other, encouraging each other and blessing each other all the time. We know that you are looking forward to the direction of Wuhan all the time. We are also looking forward that the time of our meeting in China will come soon.

While disaster is torturing human beings, it also provides a valuable lesson. The only significance of the existence of disaster is to make us think, become sober, know how to cherish and learn to grow up. Through this epidemic, you have a better understanding of China and further realized the urgency of building one community with a shared future for mankind. In reply to Bill Gates, Chinese president Xi Jinping said, ‘human beings are one community with a shared future. Unity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons to overcome epidemics that affect the safety of the people of all countries.’ Human beings are one community in which we are closely related. This should become an important consensus after reflections in the face of this disaster. As international students of Wuhan Textile University, we should have a broad mind of the whole world, stand at the forefront of the times and make contributions to shouldering responsibilities, resisting risks, tiding over difficulties together and promoting the people to people communication and the construction of one community with a shared future for mankind.

Let's work together!

All IEC Teachers of Wuhan Textile University

December 31, 2020