Fact vs fiction: Timeline of a coronavirus war of words between Beijing and Washington
- How the US and China descended into a childish blame game over who was responsible for the pandemic that is killing thousands and disrupting economies globally
Things didn’t start that way. Initially, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter, his favourite platform, to praise China for its robust fight against Covid-19 – the disease caused by the virus – after a multitude of infections broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. This development was followed by warm comments from the American leader on Beijing’s show of transparency in sharing its virus information with the world.
However, some American politicians including Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican representing Arkansas and staunch Trump ally, suggested that the spread of the novel coronavirus might have been an unintended consequence of an alleged Chinese biological warfare program. Cotton provided no evidence for the claim and asserted that it was the Chinese government’s job to disprove it.
That rhetoric prompted China’s foreign ministry to throw accusations of its own at the American government. Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian insinuated that the US military had brought the virus to Wuhan – and from that point the narrative spiralled downward into what has resembled at times a schoolyard shouting match.
The narrative then shifted; Trump started to accuse China of lacking transparency and withholding information on the pathogen. By early March, he was calling the coronavirus a “Chinese virus.”
Enter the adult. China’s ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai, gave an interview to US media outlet Axios on March 22 in which he distanced himself from the accusations made by his own foreign ministry spokesman, arguing for allowing scientists to do their work in tracking the virus and its origins.