Coronavirus ’Made in China’: Donald Trump officials emphasise

Mangalore Today News Network

Washington, Mar 14, 2020: There’s one thing the Trump administration wants Americans to remember about the coronavirus pandemic: It carries the "Made in China" label.

Trump administration officials, on the defensive about their own handling of the virus, have repeatedly reminded people that the virus started in Wuhan, a city in China’s Hubei province, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referring to it as the "Wuhan coronavirus", Yahoo reported.

 

 

Chinese health officials informed the WHO about the new virus on December 31. By January 8, it had been identified as a new coronavirus, a large family that causes the common cold and more serious illnesses including SARS, which also began in China.

A recently submitted complaint to the country’s National Health Commission alleged that during this period, officials with the Wuhan health commission told doctors they were not allowed to report about the new virus, letting patients wander around freely instead of being isolated.

China’s foreign ministry has taken offense at people blaming China. After Pompeo called it the "Wuhan coronavirus," the ministry’s spokesman said the description was "despicable," disrespected science and stigmatized China. Other Republicans also have specifically pointed how the outbreak was first reported in China.

Coronavirus began in US, not China, Chinese official suggests

Beijing, Mar 14, 2020: A spokesman for China’s ministry of foreign affairs has lashed out at the United States’ handling of the coronavirus outbreak, saying COVID-19 may have been brought into China by US soldiers.

Lijian Zhao, a prominent firebrand official with more than 300,000 followers on Twitter, took to the social media platform to suggest the origin of COVID-19 was in fact the United States, not China.

"When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals?" Mr Zhao wrote on Twitter.

"Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!" he added.

Mr Zhao later posted an article he said provided "further evidence that the virus originated in the US".

The article was published by the so-called Centre for Research on Globalisation, which has previously been accused of promoting pro-Russian propaganda and conspiracy theories, particularly those that undermine faith in Western media.

Republican senator Marco Rubio, who regularly criticises China, said the ruling Communist Party was "encouraging conspiracy theories" about COVID-19 to "dampen internal discontent", "distract from a true infection rate", and to "save face internationally".

The US State Department and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not immediately respond to the ABC’s request for comment.

The CDC has said in public statements, however, that China is where COVID-19 "first started".

The Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper also sought to place blame on the US and institutions like the CDC, writing that the US had bombarded China with "groundless accusations and discrimination".

"Now, the world sees the US as the reason for many problems while the source of the virus remains undetected," it wrote, adding many people on Chinese social media believed the disease began in the US.

The comments represent an escalation in a war of words between Washington and Beijing amid the pandemic.

China has taken umbrage with US politicians’ references to COVID-19 as the "Wuhan virus" or "Chinese coronavirus".