Asia
China has issued a lengthy rebuttal of what it said were 24 "preposterous allegations" by some leading U.S. politicians over its handling of the new coronavirus outbreak.
FILE PHOTO: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian attends a news conference in Beijing, China April 8, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
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10 May 2020 09:46PM
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BEIJING: China has issued a lengthy rebuttal of what it said were 24 "preposterous allegations" by some leading US politicians over its handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Chinese foreign ministry has dedicated most of its press briefings over the past week to rejecting accusations by US politicians, especially Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, that China had withheld information about the new coronavirus and that it had originated in a laboratory in the city of Wuhan.
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READ: China accuses Pompeo of telling lies over its handling of COVID-19 pandemic
A 30-page, 11,000-word article posted on the ministry website on Saturday night (May 9) repeated and expanded on the refutations made during the press briefings, and began by invoking Abraham Lincoln, the 19th century US president.
"As Lincoln said, you can fool some of the people all the time and fool all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time," it said in the prologue.
The article also cited media reports that said Americans had been infected with the virus before the first case was confirmed in Wuhan. There is no evidence to suggest that is the case.
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Keen to quash US suggestions that the virus was deliberately created or somehow leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the article said that all evidence shows the virus is not man-made and that the institute is not capable of synthesising a new coronavirus.
"TIMELY" WARNINGS
The article also provided a timeline of how China had provided information to the international community in a "timely", "open and transparent" manner to rebuke US suggestions that it had been slow to sound the alarm.
Despite China's repeated assurances, concerns about the timeliness of its information have persisted in some quarters.
READ: Pompeo has no evidence about COVID-19 lab leak: China
READ: US says 'enormous evidence' shows coronavirus came from China lab
A report by Der Spiegel magazine last Friday cited Germany's BND spy agency as saying that China's initial attempt to hold back information had cost the world four to six weeks that could have been used to fight the virus.
The article rejected Western criticism of BeRead More – Source
Asia
China has issued a lengthy rebuttal of what it said were 24 "preposterous allegations" by some leading U.S. politicians over its handling of the new coronavirus outbreak.
FILE PHOTO: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian attends a news conference in Beijing, China April 8, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
3
related media assets (image or videos) available. Click to see the gallery.
10 May 2020 09:46PM
Share this content
Bookmark
BEIJING: China has issued a lengthy rebuttal of what it said were 24 "preposterous allegations" by some leading US politicians over its handling of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Chinese foreign ministry has dedicated most of its press briefings over the past week to rejecting accusations by US politicians, especially Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, that China had withheld information about the new coronavirus and that it had originated in a laboratory in the city of Wuhan.
Advertisement
Advertisement
READ: China accuses Pompeo of telling lies over its handling of COVID-19 pandemic
A 30-page, 11,000-word article posted on the ministry website on Saturday night (May 9) repeated and expanded on the refutations made during the press briefings, and began by invoking Abraham Lincoln, the 19th century US president.
"As Lincoln said, you can fool some of the people all the time and fool all the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time," it said in the prologue.
The article also cited media reports that said Americans had been infected with the virus before the first case was confirmed in Wuhan. There is no evidence to suggest that is the case.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Keen to quash US suggestions that the virus was deliberately created or somehow leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the article said that all evidence shows the virus is not man-made and that the institute is not capable of synthesising a new coronavirus.
"TIMELY" WARNINGS
The article also provided a timeline of how China had provided information to the international community in a "timely", "open and transparent" manner to rebuke US suggestions that it had been slow to sound the alarm.
Despite China's repeated assurances, concerns about the timeliness of its information have persisted in some quarters.
READ: Pompeo has no evidence about COVID-19 lab leak: China
READ: US says 'enormous evidence' shows coronavirus came from China lab
A report by Der Spiegel magazine last Friday cited Germany's BND spy agency as saying that China's initial attempt to hold back information had cost the world four to six weeks that could have been used to fight the virus.
The article rejected Western criticism of BeRead More – Source
