Chinese Envoy Says Beijing Didn't Cover up Coronavirus Threat, Urges US to Stop Bullying it

China did not cover up the novel coronavirus outbreak and so the United States should not seek to bully the People's Republic in a manner reminiscent of the 19th century European colonial wars, the Chinese ambassador to London said on Thursday.

"I hear quite a lot of this speculation, this disinformation about China covering up, about China hiding something - this is not true," Liu Xiaoming said. "The Chinese government was transparent and very quick to share data."

"Some other country - their local courts sued China - it is absurd," he said. "Some politicians, some people, want to play at being the world's policeman - this is not the era of gunboat diplomacy, this is not the era when China was a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society."

"These people still live in the old days - they think they can bully China, think they can bully the world," Liu said. "China is not an enemy of the United States - if they regard China as an enemy they chose the wrong target."