The Chinese spokesperson on Thursday hinted that the United States (US) military maybe responsible for bringing the coronavirus to China’s Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus, Reuters reported.
China’s accusation came a day after US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien commented that China did not handle the coronavirus well when it was at its nascent stage. It likely cost the world two months when it could have prepared and dramatically limited the outbreak.
"We have done a good job responding to it but ... the way that this started out in China, and the way it was handled from the outset, was not right," said O'Brien during a think tank meeting on Wednesday, as per Reuters report.
The comment was not taken well by China. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian blamed the US for lack of transparency in their system and tweeted: "When did patient zero begin in the US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be the US army that brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! The US owes us an explanation!"
Earlier on Thursday, Zhao's fellow Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang slammed US officials for "immoral and irresponsible" comments that blamed Beijing's response to the coronavirus due to which it gained momentum around the world, as per media reports.
Geng told a Chinese news channel that China’s efforts to contain the virus actually spared the world with some time to prepare against the pandemic.
Geng said, "We wish that a few officials in the US would at this time concentrate their energy on responding to the virus and promoting cooperation, and not on shifting the blame to China," moneycontrol reported.
More than 119,100 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus across the world and 4,298 have died, the vast majority in China, according to a Reuters tally. The US has 975 cases and 30 people have died.