US military may have brought coronavirus to Wuhan, says China as Trump's NSA slams Beijing for cover-up
The US military might have brought the coronavirus to the Chinese city of Wuhan, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry suggested on March 12.
According to a report by the Daily Mail, China has taken offense after US officials appeared to accuse it of a delayed response to the coronavirus outbreak and not being transparent enough about the gravity of the situation.
China's response to the deadly outbreak possibly cost the world two months when it could have been preparing for its containment, US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said on March 11.
But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian shot back in a strongly-worded tweet saying it was the US that lacked transparency.
"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, without offering any evidence.
Zhao's fellow Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang slammed US officials earlier on March 12 for "immoral and irresponsible" comments that criticized Beijing's response to the coronavirus.
Speaking of O'Brien's comments, Geng told a press conference in Beijing that such remarks would not help US efforts to battle an epidemic.
Defending China's response, Geng said their efforts had, in fact, bought the world time to prepare against the outbreak.
"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," he added.
The coronavirus emerged in December 2019 from the city of Wuhan in China, where around two-thirds of global cases have so far been recorded. However, the vast majority of new cases in recent weeks have been recorded outside of China.
Chinese authorities have touted measures they took in January and February, especially enforcing a total shutdown of the surrounding Hubei province, saying it played an instrumental role in preventing massive outbreaks in other Chinese cities.
"Unfortunately, rather than using best practices, this outbreak in Wuhan was covered up," O'Brien said during a think-tank appearance on March 11. "It probably cost the world community two months to respond," during which "we could have dramatically curtailed what happened both in China and what's now happening across the world," he added.
"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.