China Attacks US For Calling Coronavirus ‘Chinese Virus

The government of China has attacked the United States of America, telling it to stop describing the corona virus as the Chinese Virus”.

A faceoff between the two countries escalated on Tuesday as President Donald Trump angered Beijing by referring to the pathogen as the “Chinese Virus.”

On the other hand, a Chinese official had earlier claimed that it was brought to China by the US army and American officials using terms seen as stigmatising a nation.

“The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus,” Trump tweeted Monday night.

He doubled down on the comment on Tuesday morning while Tweeting about how US states were being affected, saying: “Some are being hit hard by the Chinese Virus, some are being hit practically not at all.”

Trump’s allies had previously referred to the pandemic as the “Chinese coronavirus”, according to AFP reports, but Beijing said on Tuesday it was “strongly indignant” over the phrase, which it called “a kind of stigmatisation”.

The United States should “immediately stop its unjustified accusations against China,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters.

A commentary by the official Xinhua news agency said using “racist and xenophobic names to cast blame for the outbreak on other countries can only reveal politicians’ irresponsibility and incompetence which will intensify virus fears”.

The war of words reignited diplomatic tensions between the two countries, which have tussled over trade and other disputes since Trump took office.

Trump’s comments were also criticised inside the US, with warnings it could incite a backlash against the Asian-American community.

“Our Asian-American communities — people YOU serve — are already suffering. They don’t need you fueling more bigotry,” tweeted New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, whose state is one of the hardest-hit by the virus in the US.

The World Health Organization said more cases and deaths had been reported in the rest of the world than in China.