China fumes over attack, says it’s not Chinese virus
Under severe pressure due to the mounting global criticism, China on Wednesday lashed out at its critics and said it had “neither created the coronavirus nor intentionally transmitted it”.
In a statement issued from New Delhi, Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Rong claimed “there is no evidence that China is the source of the virus that caused Covid-19 although Wuhan city in China first reported the outbreak”.
The Chinese embassy said, “China has neither created the virus nor intentionally transmitted it. The so-called (term) ‘Chinese virus’ is absolutely wrong.”
Beijing’s declaration seems to be aimed at certain conspiracy theories from some quarters globally that the virus could have been a biological weapon leaked either accidentally or deliberately. Foreign policy observers feel China’s statement that the coronavirus did not originate there also appears to be part of Beijing’s efforts to combat a perceived global negative fallout on China’s image due to the outbreak.
China, meanwhile, also sought to draw parallels with the H1N1 virus, stating that it originated in North America but was never called the “North American Flu”.
It again reiterated that the “so-called (term) ‘Chinese virus’ is absolutely wrong” and that “there is clear consensus by the WHO and the international community that a virus should not be linked to any specific country, region or ethnic group and (that) such stigmatisation should be rejected”.
The term “Chinese virus” was recently uttered by none other than US President Donald Trump.
Declaring that “Covid-19 is no longer the battle of one country or one city”, China claimed that prompt action taken by it initially, including the lockdown of Wuhan, had given a precious window period to the world, including countries like Singapore and South Korea, to prepare and combat the deadly virus.
Refuting international criticism in the wake of reports that it may have tried to hush up the matter initially, Beijing said that “after the outbreak, in an open, transparent and responsible manner, the Chinese government has timely adopted the most comprehensive, rigorous and thorough measures to control the epidemic, provided updates to WHO and international community and shared experience in diagnosis and treatment”.