US AMBASSADOR ACCUSES CHINA OF TRYING TO ‘COVER UP’ WUHAN VIRUS OUTBREAK
“They could have contained it,” outgoing diplomat says
Former Iowa Governor and outgoing US ambassador to China Terry Branstad had some harsh words for his one-time friend, Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During an interview with CNN, Brandstad accused Xi and China of mishandling the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan which sparked a global pandemic: “What could have been contained in Wuhan ended up becoming a worldwide pandemic,” Branstad said.
This is one of the harshest rebukes Branstad has ever delivered against China and President Xi, whom Branstad has known since the mid-1980s, when both men were relatively low-ranking government officials.
This isn’t the first time Branstad has had to push back against Beijing; in the last few months alone, Branstad has denounced Beijing’s decision to expel American journalists, as well as the forced passage of the Hong Kong ‘national security’ law, and the closure of an American consulate in Chengdu (retaliation for the closure of a Chinese consulate in Texas that was reportedly a “nest of spies”).
This accusation is extremely harsh, and echoes President Trump’s aggressive rhetoric about holding China responsible for the pandemic. President Xi, meanwhile, has pledged to deliver aid – in the form of vaccines, and financial assistance – to poorer countries struggling with the virus.