Official admits coronavirus a challenge
Official rails against U.S. restrictions
BERLIN • A top Chinese official acknowledged on Friday that the new coronavirus is a deep challenge to the country, but defended Beijing’s management of the epidemic while lashing out at the “overreaction” of other countries.
In a wide-ranging interview with Reuters in the German capital, State Councillor Wang Yi, who also serves as China’s foreign minister, urged the United States not to take unnecessary virus-response measures that could hamper trade, travel and tourism.
“The epidemic overall is under control,” he said. “This epidemic is truly sudden. It has brought a challenge to China and the world.”
“We’ve taken such complete prevention and control efforts, efforts that are so comprehensive, that I can’t see any other country that can do this,” Wang said, adding that any leader in another country would find the challenge very difficult.
“But China has been able to do this.”
In China, nearly 64,000 people have been infected with the virus and 1,381 have died. Outside of mainland China, there have been 500 cases in 24 countries and three deaths in total, one each in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan. The total number of cases in Canada is estimated to be eight, after a fifth case was presumptively confirmed in British Columbia on Friday.
The virus, coming on the back of a disruptive trade war between the U.S. and China, has exposed underlying tensions on multiple fronts between the world’s two biggest economies.
It has also posed one of the toughest challenges for President Xi Jinping since he assumed power in 2013.
During the roughly 90-minute interview, on topics ranging from the coronavirus to Hong Kong, and the Middle East, Wang repeatedly pinned blame on Washington.
Beijing has criticized the U.S. in particular for taking drastic measures on coronavirus, which have included travel curbs on visitors from China. The U.S. was the first to announce it was evacuating citizens from Wuhan, the city at the epicentre of the virus outbreak.
“Some countries have stepped up measures, including quarantine measures, which are reasonable and understandable, but for some countries they have overreacted, which has triggered unnecessary panic,” he said.
“I’m sure that those countries are reflecting on this as the situation evolves and the epidemic is gradually brought under further control,” he said. “They will gradually release such restrictions. Because at the end of the day, these countries need to interact with China.”
The U.S. State Department and Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while the White House declined to comment.
Wang rejected the idea that China was not transparent enough in its initial handling of the outbreak. Top Communist Party officials in Wuhan and Hubei province, where the city is located, were sacked this week.
“From the beginning, we took a very open and transparent manner in releasing information to the international community’s co-operation on this effort,” he said, noting that fewer than 1 per cent of global cases have been reported outside of China.
“We’re not just defending the life, safety and health of Chinese citizens, but also making our contribution for global public health, and that should be recognized,” he said.
Beijing has urged countries to ease travel restrictions and resume flights after numerous airlines stopped flying to China.
“Only under the leadership of President Xi can we control this sudden epidemic, which has spread so quickly. This is not only to defend the health of the Chinese people, but also will prevent the rapid spread of this epidemic in the world,” he said.
“We have taken the most correct, the most rigorous and decisive measures to fight against the epidemic. Many measures went beyond international health regulations and the WHO recommendations,” Wang said.
In the far-ranging interview, Wang said he did not understand why the U.S. was using its power and trying to get its allies to attack a private company like China’s Huawei.
On Thursday, U.S. prosecutors accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets and helping Iran track protesters in its latest indictment against the Chinese firm, escalating the U.S. battle with the world’s largest telecoms gear maker.
The U.S. has been waging a campaign against Huawei, which it placed the company on a trade blacklist last year, citing national security concerns.
“We don’t know why this superpower country is using its state power, and moving its allies to attack Huawei, which is a private company,” Wang said. “Why can’t a Chinese company succeed based on its own efforts?”
Wang also said he does not see a need to revisit what was agreed in the Phase 1 trade deal reached with Washington, after questions arose as to whether China would be able to fulfil its commitments due to the outbreak.
Wang noted that U.S. President Donald Trump has praised Xi’s leadership in China’s battle to contain the virus.