American death sparks concerns about response
U.S. citizen dies in China, as epidemic spreads and diplomatic tensions rise
SHANGHAI— A U.S. citizen died from the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, American officials said on Saturday. It was the first known American death from the illness, and was likely to add to diplomatic friction over Beijing’s response to the epidemic.
The death is also certain to raise questions over whether the Trump administration and the state department in particular have taken sufficient action to ensure the safety of Americans in China and to aid in the evacuation of those who want to leave.
In a statement, the state department took a defensive tone, saying that since Jan. 29, it had evacuated about 850 people, most of them Americans, on five charter flights out of Wuhan.
The agency said it had “no higher priority than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad,” but there are no current plans to conduct additional evacuation flights, even as some Americans in other parts of China have been asking for the U.S. government to repatriate them.
Relations between Washington and Beijing have been tense for years over issues such as trade, technology and human rights. Although Chinese officials have touted the importance of international co-operation to combat the virus, doubts have arisen in recent days about China’s willingness to accept a helping hand — particularly from the United States. Although some Trump administration officials have privately expressed skepticism over China’s handling of the outbreak, President Donald
Trump himself lavished praise on Chinese leaders Friday. Trump told reporters in Washington that he had spoken with President Xi Jinping on the telephone late Thursday. “They’re working really hard, and I think they’re doing a very professional job,” he said.
Trump has said often that he likes and admires Xi, and he has toned down his attacks on China since the two sides signed an agreement last month to halt a damaging trade war that Trump started in 2018.
Few details about the American who died on Thursday were immediately available. According to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, the person was 60 years old and died at Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, the inland metropolis at the centre of the epidemic. Two people familiar with the matter said the person was a woman and had underlying health conditions.
It was not clear whether the woman had tried to leave the city on any of the flights organized by the state department, which have evacuated diplomats and other U.S. citizens from Wuhan, Beijing and other parts of China.
“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said. “Out of respect for the family’s privacy, we have no further comment.”
Word of the death spread as frustrations over Beijing’s handling of the epidemic mounted within China and surfaced at the diplomatic level as well. The virus has killed at least 800 people in China, sickened thousands more and spread around the globe.
For more than a month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been offering to send a team of experts to China to observe the outbreak and help if possible. But no invitation has come.
The World Health Organization, which made a similar offer about two weeks ago, appeared to have faced the same cold shoulder. But the agency said Saturday it had identified a team of experts to go to China and that the team’s leader would go Monday or Tuesday, with the rest of the team following later.
Current and former health officials and diplomats said they believed the reluctance came from China’s top leaders, who do not want the world to think they need outside help.
As the virus spreads, China is confronting a growing sense of isolation — a stark reversal for the country after decades of economic and diplomatic integration with the rest of the world. Many countries, including the United States, have placed entry restrictions on travellers from China. Airlines have cancelled flights. Fears of the virus have fuelled anti-Chinese racism in some parts of the world.