Chinese diplomat fires back at US on source of coronavirus
▶ ‘Smart move’ to use American politicians’ tactics
Heated online discussions were sparked by the latest tweets by outspoken Chinese diplomat Zhao Lijian, who questioned the transparency of the US epidemic response mechanism, following the Trump administration’s all-out campaign to smear China on its handling of the coronavirus crisis, as part of an information war embedded with racial discrimination and malicious accusations. Zhao fighting back on social media was praised by the Chinese public as a “smart move” to use the American officials’ tactics against themselves.
While growing loopholes have been exposed in the US system, coronavirus-related conspiracy theories exploited by the US to shift the blame to China, seen as part of its information war engagement with the virus battle, would hinder countries from cooperating in overcoming the common enemy, analysts warned.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian claims it might be US army representatives who brought the novel coronavirus to Wuhan, Hubei Province, in October 2019, after a top US health official admitted detecting coronavirus infections on some deceased flu patients. Zhao urged the US to disclose further information, exercise transparency on coronavirus cases.
Zhao, a famously outspoken Chinese diplomat, posted these concerns on his Twitter account, resonating with similar doubts raised by the Chinese public.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Robert Redfield told the House Oversight Committee panel Wednesday on the COVID-19 response that some cases may have been misdiagnosed as flu that actually were infected with coronavirus, sparking heated online discussions on the flawed US system that might have seriously delayed the epidemic response. Such misjudgment of coronavirus cases in the US, in addition to the fact that the source of the coronavirus is still unclear, raised public suspicion on whether the virus had surfaced in the US earlier, as 37,000 Americans had died from the common flu in the US in 2019.
US CDC has been fiercely criticized by not only the American public and observers but also frontline doctors in the country, according to media reports. Some have raised questions on the US’ healthcare system, which is based on marketdriven principles, ignoring the fundamental interests of American people, and has ultimately become profit-oriented.
As the US COVID-19 situation becomes increasingly uncertain, the Chinese public shared the suspicion raised by Zhao that the US might be the source of the virus.
In the early stages of the epidemic, the US blamed China with several groundless accusations and discrimination. Now, the world sees the US as the reason for many problems while the source of the virus remains undetected, said Zhang Yiwu, a cultural expert at Peking University.
“Zhao has always been known for his outspoken approach in public opinion. He, as a diplomat whose rank was not particularly high in China’s official system, raised the questions in his personal capacity, which is a good strategy,” he said.
Information war
Some American officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are using “Wuhan virus” which is considered a racist term as the origin of the disease remains unknown.
China has noticed that there are discussions on the origins of the novel coronavirus pneumonia, and some US officials and congressmen made groundless accusations and attacked China, which we firmly oppose, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Friday. When asked if questions raised by Zhao represent China’s official stance, he said the origins of COVID-19 is a question for science, which needs to be based on professional consultations.
Chinese officials came up with reasonable countermeasures, which are necessary, Li Haidong, a professor at Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times.
However, some Western media take Zhao’s personal tweets as China’s stance to fuel a conspiracy theory that the US spread the virus first. “Interpreting this move of fighting back as a conspiracy is an exaggeration, deemed from America’s long-standing hostile attitude toward China,” Li said.