'It has come to our attention that some political forces in the US are taking China-US relations hostage and pushing our two countries to the brink of a new Cold War.' China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi
"Aside from the devastation caused by the novel coronavirus, there is also a political virus spreading through the US," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. "This political virus is the use of every opportunity to attack and smear China."
Keeping up the worsening war of words with Washington over the pandemic and a Beijing move to tighten control over Hong Kong, Wang Yi said the United States had been infected by a "political virus" compelling figures there to continually attack China. Wang did not identify what "forces" he was referring to, but US President Donald Trump has led world criticism of China's initial response to the pandemic, which has caused more than 340,000 deaths and economic carnage worldwide.
Wang took an apparent swipe at the US struggles to contain the virus, which has now infected more people in the United States than anywhere else.He said China was "open" to international cooperation to identify the source of the novel coronavirus, but stressed that any investigation must be "free of political interference"."Some political figures in the US rush to label the virus and politicise its origins, stigmatising China," Wang said.
The World Health Organization has also called on Beijing to invite them in to investigate the source, with China proposing instead that the "global response" to Covid-19 should only be assessed when the pandemic is over.
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