China’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday implied that the U.S. Army “might be” be responsible for bringing the coronavirus to Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak first emerged late last year.
Tweeting in English, foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian wrote: “When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals?”
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
Zhao went on to suggest that it “might be [the] US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan.”
“Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation,” he wrote.
Days earlier, China’s ambassador to South Africa also downplayed his country’s role in the pandemic.
Although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus is originated from China, let alone “made in China”. pic.twitter.com/EVXLkQnyfF
— Chinese Ambassador to South Africa (@AmbLINSongtian) March 7, 2020
“Although the epidemic first broke out in China, it did not necessarily mean that the virus originated from China, let alone ‘made in China,'” he tweeted.
Both remarks are illustrative of China’s massive PR campaign to convince the world that the United States bears the blame for the coronavirus outbreak, which has claimed at least 4,700 lives around the globe, according to Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
The Chinese government has published a book, in multiple languages, boasting of the country’s efforts in curbing the deadly outbreak.
The book, “A Battle Against Epidemic: China Combatting COVID-19 in 2020,” mixes glowing state media reports on the accomplishments of President Xi Jinping and the dominance of China’s system in fighting the crisis.
Fox News’ Barnini Chakraborty contributed to this report.
Author: Bradford Betz
Source: Fox News: Chinese Foreign Ministry suggests US Army to blame for coronavirus pandemic
