During an interview with conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt Monday morning, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu pushed back on the Chinese Communist Party and explained how officials in his country have been accurately calling the disease, "the Wuhan Pneumonia Coronavirus."
"When the coronavirus started in Wuhan, we sent our CDC officials and experts to that area to make an investigation. And we knew that there was something wrong in that place. But the Chinese government officials were rather quiet about the real situation. And I think right now, the world already knows where it started, and that is the term that we use to describe this kind of coronavirus. We called it Wuhan Pneumonia Coronavirus," Wu said.
Last week, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. was summoned to the State Department for a meeting after the Chinese foreign minister falsely claimed the American military started the virus. The Chinese Communist Party has also tried to tamp down criticism and responsibility for the world outbreak by claiming the classification of the virus as "Chinese" or from "Wuhan" is racist.
"The Chinese understand that its national reputation suffered tremendously in the last few months because of the coronavirus. And what it's trying to do is trying to overturn that kind of situation. Rather than blaming the United States or blaming American soldiers of carrying the virus into the Wuhan area, I think the Chinese are also coming out in a very strong way through its propaganda that it is the savior of the world right now," Wu continued.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addressed this issue again today in a call to the Director of the Office of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China Yang Jiechi.
"Secretary Pompeo conveyed strong U.S. objections to PRC efforts to shift blame for COVID-19 to the United States. The Secretary stressed that this is not the time to spread disinformation and outlandish rumors, but rather a time for all nations to come together to fight this common threat," the State Department released.
China lied about the initial outbreak of the virus, arrested doctors who warned about it, allowed it to spread around the world and are still lying about its origin. The question now is how the world will hold China accountable for what it has done.
Why don’t you try to act with responsibility? You are actually doing irreparable damage to China’s image. As a European I can tell you perceptions of China have become extremely negative over the last two weeks https://t.co/uXIXMqckBp
— Bruno Maçães (@MacaesBruno) March 16, 2020