A Chinese official is pointing fingers at the U.S. military for being the possible origin of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Responding to criticism of U.S. officials on China’s handling of the outbreak, Zhao Lijian, a representative of China’s Foreign Ministry, insinuated that the U.S. military might have had a hand in bringing the novel coronavirus to Wuhan.
2/2 CDC was caught on the spot. 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 your data! US owe us an explanation! pic.twitter.com/vYNZRFPWo3
— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 12, 2020
The Chinese city has been hit the hardest by the illness, and over 140,000 have been infected by the coronavirus globally, as of this writing.
U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien pointed out that China’s reaction to the outbreak cost the world two months for not being transparent enough, Reuters reports.
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
The comment did not go unnoticed as Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao responded with a tweet, saying it was the U.S. that failed in being transparent.
2. Chinese spox: Some US official accuses China of “covering up”. Well, the world knows better whether China is open & transparent. We do not comment on if US response is open & transparent, but obviously, someone in US still turns a deaf ear to international appraisal on China. pic.twitter.com/FS6nSYQUP5
— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 13, 2020
“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 your data! US owe us an explanation!” Zhao wrote.
3. Chinese spox: Countries like Singapore, ROK took necessary measures & put the epidemics under control because they made full use of this precious time China bought for the world. As for whether US availed itself of this window, I believe the fact is witnessed by US &the world. pic.twitter.com/Wtr7RiMsc5
— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 13, 2020
4. Chinese spox: As a Chinese saying goes, “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. pic.twitter.com/nNNGqT9EGz
— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 13, 2020
Zhao’s fellow Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang also criticized U.S. officials for their “immoral and irresponsible” comments and criticizing Beijing’s actions against the pandemic, Reuters reported.
Geng argued that the world had time to prepare against the epidemic due to China’s efforts to slow its spread. He added that the U.S. officials’ comments do nothing to help the fight against the virus.
“We wish that a few officials in the U.S. would at this time concentrate their energy on responding to the virus and promoting cooperation, and not on shifting the blame to China,” Geng said.
