Chinese Communist authorities who silenced early reports of the coronavirus outbreak bear responsibility for needless deaths at home and abroad, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
“It took an awful long time for the world to become aware of this risk that was sitting there residing inside of China,” Pompeo told reporters Tuesday.
“Every nation has a responsibility to share all of their data, all of their information in as timely and accurate a fashion as they have the ability to do, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because that’s how you save lives for your own people as well,” he continued. “The Chinese Communist Party had a responsibility to do this not only for Americans and Italians and South Koreans and Iranians who are now suffering but for their own people as well.”
That rebuke hearkened back to how Chinese authorities punished the doctor who attempted to warn as early as December that a new medical threat had emerged. More recently, Chinese diplomats have alleged that the U.S. Army started the outbreak in China, while accusing those who blame Beijing for the outbreak of “prejudice” against China.
“Look, the disinformation campaign that they are waging is designed to shift responsibility,” Pompeo said. “Now is not the time for recrimination. Now is the time to solve this global pandemic and work to take down risk to Americans and people all across the world.”
A small number of U.S. diplomats have contracted the virus — you can “count them on one hand,” Pompeo said — and they are isolating themselves from others while the State Department continues to work.
“We have a responsibility to try and help American citizens wherever they are as well,” Pompeo said. “We’ll do our best to make sure the State Department team both here in Washington and around the world is the safest we can possibly make them, while we still recognize we’ve got a mission to accomplish as well.”
Chinese diplomats demanded that President Trump and other U.S. officials stop referring to the outbreak as the “Chinese virus” earlier Tuesday.
“Some U.S political figures have recently been connecting the coronavirus with China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said during a press conference. “The World Health Organization and the international community oppose intentional linkage of the virus and specific countries or regions, which is a form of stigmatization. We urge the U.S. to immediately correct its mistake and stop making unwarranted accusations on China.”
World Health Organization officials use COVID-19, the official name for the disease caused by the virus, as a shorthand for the virus — which they also note was “detected in Wuhan.” Chinese officials have been casting doubt on the origin of the virus for weeks, culminating in a senior diplomat suggesting that the U.S. military brought the disease to China. That allegation drew direct tongue-lashings from Pompeo and another senior State Department official over the last week.
