U.S.-China relations have hit a new low point as Washington pins blame for the global COVID-19 outbreak on Beijing, China’s top diplomat said Sunday, and the two countries are now on “the brink of a new Cold War” that could have devastating ripple effects for the entire world.
Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi slammed a “political virus” that he said is running rampant in the U.S. and fueling “countless lies and conspiracy theories” surrounding China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Wang also warned that American states suing China over the coronavirus are “daydreaming” and that their legal actions will accomplish nothing.
“It is the most regrettable that while the coronavirus is still out there, a political virus is also spreading in the U.S. and jumping at any opportunity to attack and slander China,” Mr. Wang said, as quoted by the Beijing-based China Global Television Network. “It’s time for the U.S. to give up its wishful thinking of changing China or stopping the 1.4 billion Chinese people’s historical march toward modernization.”
Mr. Wang added that some U.S. political leaders are “taking China-U.S. relations hostage and pushing our two countries to the brink of a new Cold War.”
The fiery comments come as the Trump administration and officials in countries across the globe charge that China mishandled the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, hid key pieces of data, lowballed death counts in key hotspots, and have failed to operate with the kind of transparency expected during an unprecedented international health crisis.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper was asked last Friday whether the two nations are approaching a new Cold War and conceded that the coronavirus has pushed the relationship in the wrong direction.
“There’s certainly been a change in this country over the last few months after we’ve seen what China has done with regard to the coronavirus. I think it’s the latest example of China once again not living up to its international obligations saying one thing and doing another,” Mr. Esper told radio host Hugh Hewitt. “I’ve seen this relationship with China evolve over time. And I think the stronger and more capable we are, the more likely we are to preserve the peace and to keep the relationship or get the relationship back on the right track. “
President Trump last week threatened to permanently pull U.S. funding from the World Health Organization over its handling of the outbreak and, in particular, for not holding Beijing’s feet to the fire in the crucial early months of the crisis.
Meanwhile, several U.S. states — led by Missouri — have sued China for damages related to COVID-19.
Mr. Wang dismissed those lawsuits.
“If anybody thought they could use some ludicrous lawsuits to undermine China’s sovereignty and dignity or to deprive the Chinese people of their hard-won gains, they [are] daydreaming and bring disgrace to themselves,” he said.
Mr. Wang also argued that the U.S. is merely hurting itself by continuing to focus on China rather than its own response to the outbreak.
“COVID-19 drives home once again that no country, no matter how strong it is, can insulate itself from a global challenge,” he said. “Pointing fingers at others will only end up damaging one’s own reputation. Self-conceit and blame-shifting will not help one solve its own problems.”
