HarumieGuevarra
Beijing criticized Washington for "smearing" after Trump called nCoV a "Chinese virus", raising tensions between the two sides over Covid-19.
"Some US politicians associate nCoV with China and defame us. China expressed indignation and vehement opposition to this," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Canh Shuang said today.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Canh Shuang at a press conference in Beijing in September 2019 Photo: China Daily.
"We urge the United States to stop pointing to China. The highest priority is international cooperation to fight the virus. The United States should focus on their top priority and play a constructive role in international cooperation on Health security, "he added.
Earlier, in a tweet on the pledge to support businesses affected by Covid-19, US President Donald Trump first called nCoV a "Chinese virus", although many of his allies used to call it this.
Covid-19 originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and has appeared in more than 160 countries and territories around the world. In the context of unknown origins, Beijing and Washington are constantly arguing about this issue.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton once called the nCoV "Chinese corona virus" and declared "to hold the people who cause the disease". Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhao Lian Kien last week tweeted that the "zero-patient" of the pandemic could be from the US, not Wuhan.
In a phone call with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Beijing for using official channels "to blame the United States for Covid-19". However, Pompeo has also repeatedly called nCoV the "Wuhan virus", although experts suggest that this action could be considered discriminatory.
The number of nCoV infections globally has exceeded 180,000, with more than 7,000 dead. While the number of new infections in China has continued to decline in recent weeks, the epidemic situation in Europe has become increasingly serious. The current number of Chinese nCoV infections is also lower than the total number of other countries in the world. The United States currently records more than 4,700 Covid-19 cases, including 93 deaths.
