In a strongly-worded tweet, written in English on his verified Twitter account, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the United States lacked transparency around its handling of Coronavirus.
'When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!' Zhao wrote.
China was responding at comments by U.S. officials accusing it of being slow to react to the virus, first detected in Wuhan late last year, and of not being transparent enough.
On Wednesday, March 11, U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said the speed of China's reaction to the emergence of the coronavirus had probably cost the world two months when it could have been preparing for the outbreak.
Earlier on Thursday, Zhao's fellow Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang criticized U.S. officials for 'immoral and irresponsible' comments that blamed Beijing's response to the coronavirus for worsening the global impact of the pandemic.
Asked about O'Brien's comments, Geng told a daily news briefing in Beijing on that such remarks by U.S. officials would not help U.S. epidemic efforts.
China's efforts to slow the spread had bought the world time to prepare against the epidemic, he added.
It may be a biological warfare. Who knows? Super powers should please make the world suitable for us to live.