‘The Chinese Communist Party poses a substantial threat to our health and way of life, as the Wuhan virus outbreak clearly has demonstrated…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is pushing other world leaders to refer to the coronavirus as the “Wuhan virus” to hold China accountable for its spread and subsequent cover-up of the disease.
The G-7 leaders have not yet reached a joint statement on COVID-19 because Pompeo, with President Donald Trump’s backing, will not allow China to continue blaming the rest of the world for its failure to contain the coronavirus and inform other countries about the threat the virus posed.
Other member states, however, have rejected the term “Wuhan virus,” according to the German magazine Der Spiegel.
“We’ve wanted to work with the Chinese Communist Party throughout this crisis—this crisis that began in Wuhan, China,” Pompeo said in a statement.
“We tried, you’ll remember, from the opening days to get our scientists, our experts on the ground there so that we could begin to assist in the global response to what began there in China, but we weren’t able to do that. The Chinese Communist Party wouldn’t permit that to happen,” he said.
China’s Communist government has attempted to blame the U.S. for the coronavirus’s origination and attacked Pompeo for harboring “sinister” motives against China. The term “Wuhan virus” is an attempt to “stigmatize China and discredit China’s efforts in an attempt to divert attention and shift responsibilities,” said China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.
Shuang’s shameless propaganda will not be tolerated, said Pompeo.
“The Chinese Communist Party poses a substantial threat to our health and way of life, as the Wuhan virus outbreak clearly has demonstrated,” Pompeo said.
Democrats, however, are aiding China’s misinformation campaign by accusing Pompeo, Trump and other Republicans of promoting “racism” toward Asian Americans by referring to the coronavirus as the “Wuhan virus.”
Conservatives have rightly pointed out that the term is factual because it refers to the region in which it originated, just like many other diseases, such as the Swine flu, Lyme disease, West Nile virus, Spanish flu, etc.