At a time when the world is in the Coronavirus pandemic—4,981 deaths & 1.35 lakh positive cases so far—China has come out saying that the virus could have been brought to Wuhan by the US Army and that the US owes China an explanation. This assertion is indicative of the growing tensions between both global giants with US, too, having tried to put the entire blame for the pandemic on China.
“When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public you data! US owe us an explanation,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lijian Zhao tweeted.
The United States, too, has tried to put the blame squarely on China. Trump has said that the disease started in China and is now spreading throughout the world. In a recent television address, the US President called the diseases a “foreign virus”.
1. Chinese spox: We hope certain US officials could focus on domestic response & international cooperation instead of trying to shift the blame to China by denigrating Chinese efforts to fight the epidemic. This is immoral & irresponsible, & will not help mitigate COVID-19 in US. pic.twitter.com/YBA5fZhPsU
— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 13, 2020
“We hope certain US officials could focus on domestic response & international cooperation instead of trying to shift the blame to China by denigrating Chinese efforts to fight the epidemic. This is immoral & irresponsible, & will not help mitigate COVID-19 in US,” Zhao stated.
He further said that while some US officials are accusing China of “covering up”, “the world knows better whether China is open & transparent”. Zhao also quoted a Chinese saying to tell the US that “turn inward & examine yourself when you encounter difficulties”.” “We urge the US officials to respect facts. Every minute wasted on smearing & complaining would be better spent on enhancing domestic response & international cooperation,” he added.
This media hysteria over China Virus is irresponsible.
Disease deaths per day worldwide:
COVID-19—56
Seasonal Flu—1,027
Pneumonia—2,216
Tuberculosis—3,014
Media mentions of Tuberculosis: 2.9 million
Media mentions of China Virus: 1.1 BILLION
They need to calm down.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 12, 2020
Trump recently retweeted supporter Charlie Kirk calling Covid19 the “China virus”. This has further irked China which has been maintaining that no conclusion has yet been reached on the origin of the virus.