Congratulations, Beijing. Goodbye, surgical masks. As Beijing finally finds itself removed from the World Health Organization travel advisory and blacklists of epidemic areas, we are almost through the protracted ordeal of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Even Taiwan, one of the latest and hardest-hit areas in China, has seen off the WHO travel alert and is only days away from being removed from the United Nations-affiliated body's list of SARS-affected areas.

This is not only a relief for the Chinese. It is also a great relief for the world as a whole.

China's accomplishment in its struggle against the terrible epidemic is a milestone in the international community's fight against the virus.

This is now a time when we can say, with assurance, that SARS is under effective control in this country and that China is now a safe place to be.

From today onwards, we hope to see redoubled efforts to make up for the loss we suffered during the past months.

Once desolate Beijing restaurants are already packed again. Entertainment venues, suspended for fear of mass infection, have reopened one after the other. The public transport system, largely deserted since late April, is seeing a steep resurgence in the number of passengers as the fear of traveling goes away.

People are too impatient to wait any longer.

We have weathered the most difficult part of the devastating havoc. The epidemic infected 5,326 people on the Chinese mainland alone, killing 347 of them.

With more than 100 SARS patients still struggling in isolation wards in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland hospitals, however, any claim of ultimate triumph is premature. The unexpected comeback of SARS in the Canadian city of Toronto was a stern warning against blind optimism.

It is reassuring to learn that our public health authorities have taken strong precautions against possible relapses.

Of the many lessons we learnt from the SARS onslaught, one of the most essential is that vigilance should never be merely optional in the field of epidemic control.

That SARS snowballed into a national epidemic is the result of negligence and belated responses, although we have to recognize that we still know too little about the disease.

The fact that we finally brought it under control and came through it with initial success is because the authorities came to terms with reality before it was too late.

Strong Communist Party and government leadership plus the solidarity shown by the general public in our battle against SARS have convinced us that, united, we Chinese can surmount the hardships and difficulties on our way forward.

With heavy loss of lives, SARS exposed the weakness of our public health system. In a sense, it was a timely warning against the unwarranted complacency stirred up by our recent economic achievements.

While rejoicing over our initial success in the fight against SARS, let us take this wake-up call seriously.

SARS has pushed the government into reshuffling our public health system. But we also have to look beyond the sphere of health because there are lots of other holes to plug. SARS told us we are still weak and vulnerable in many respects despite all our progress over the years.

We have to remember the lives lost, remember the tragically high price we paid, and remember that it will do us tremendous good if we learn from our mistakes.

(China Daily June 25, 2003)