China envoy urges end to ‘blame game’

WASHINGTON: China’s ambassador to Washington called for an end to the “blame game” over the coronavirus, in the country’s most high-profile response since US President Donald Trump escalated his criticism of Beijing.

Ambassador Cui Tiankai said in a column published in the Washington Post that allegations blaming China for the outbreak’s spread risked “decoupling” the world’s two largest economies. Increased suspicions also threatened to hurt US-China cooperation to fight the disease and restart the global economy.

“It is time to end the blame game,” Mr Cui said. “It is time to focus on the disease and rebuild trust between our two countries.”

Mr Trump and his top aides have increasingly faulted China for the coronavirus’s deadly expansion across the US and around the world. The pathogen has killed more Americans than the Vietnam War and pushed the US economy toward recession.

While Mr Trump has accused China of a cover-up and trying to hurt him politically, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has gone further, claiming there is “enormous evidence” that the virus escaped from a high-security laboratory in Wuhan. Mr Pompeo has advanced the theory despite Chinese denials and a lack of consensus among US intelligence agencies examining the virus’s origins.

Although Mr Cui made no mention of the lab claim, he denounced “conspiracy theories” about China’s geopolitical intentions. He also rejected calls for China to pay reparations for the damage wrought by the virus, saying similar responsibility wasn’t laid on countries where H1N1 or HIV originated.

“There is no denying that the first known case of Covid-19 was reported in Wuhan,” he said. “But this means only that Wuhan was the first victim of the virus. To ask a victim for compensation is simply ridiculous.”