Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijan initiated a war of words with US President Donald Trump, by tweeting a conspiracy theory that the coronavirus was introduced to Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, by the US military. He provided two links to studies by Canada-based conspiracy research organization, Global Research.
He called on his followers to share his tweet. The unverified claim dates back to the US Army’s participation in the Military World Games in Wuhan in October 2019. Zhao is the deputy director general of the foreign ministry’s information department.
His tweet reads: “When did patient zero begin in the US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be the US Army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan.” He added, “Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!”
While Twitter remains inaccessible to most Chinese citizens, the topic “Zhao Lijian sent out five consecutive tweets questioning the US” is trending on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
This latest offensive comes as part of China’s strategy to deflect blame for the coronavirus, which began in China and has since spread like wildfire to 100 countries to date. Scientists have debunked claims that the virus was bio-engineered.
China’s response is in large part due to Trump calling it a “foreign virus”, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other Republicans referring to it as the “Wuhan virus” or the “Chinese coronavirus”.
Aside from his tweets, Zhao has also told reporters that “no conclusion has been reached yet on the origin of the virus” and that those who say it originated in China have “ulterior motives”.
Image Source: South China Morning Post