A Chinese government spokesman said Thursday the U.S. Army might have "brought the epidemic to Wuhan," appearing to push a coronavirus conspiracy theory, Business Insider reported.
Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called out a comment Wednesday from Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acknowledging some Americans who were said to have died from influenza may have actually died from COVID-19, BI reported.
"When did patient zero begin in US? How many people are infected?" Zhao wrote on Twitter.
"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!"
The coronavirus first appeared in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, and the pandemic has claimed the lives of thousands of people, mostly in China.
But Beijing is pushing an alternate explanation, suggesting the virus was brought to the country in 2019 by U.S. athletes participating in the Military World Games that were held in Wuhan.
In comments at the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday, White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien described China's response to the virus as a coverup, saying Beijing's response had cost the international community months that could have been used to prepare for the coronavirus, Axios reported.
"Unfortunately, rather than use best practices, this outbreak in Wuhan was covered up," O'Brien said, Axios reported. "There's lots of open source reporting from Chinese nationals that the doctors involved were either silenced or put in isolation . . . so the word of this virus could not get out."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others have been chastised for using the term "Wuhan virus," with critics claiming it adds a stigma and is needlessly antagonistic toward China, Axios reported.
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