May 5: The World Health Organisation said that comments by Mr Pompeo citing "evidence" that the new coronavirus had emerged from a Chinese laboratory were "speculative", and called for a science-based inquiry.
May 4: China's state broadcaster attacked Mr Pompeo's "insane and evasive remarks" over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. May 3: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stepped up a US campaign to hold China accountable for the spread of coronavirus, asserting there is "enormous evidence" the virus originated in a laboratory in Wuhan. China's ambassador to the US, Mr Cui Tiankai said such speculation about the origins of the virus was "very harmful."Īpril 15: Mr Trump said his government is investigating the source of the Covid-19 epidemic, declining to rule out the theory that the coronavirus originated from a laboratory in China despite the lack of evidence. March 17: President Donald Trump uses the phrase "Chinese Virus" on Twitter, stepping up friction between the world's two biggest economies as each tries to deflect blame for the deadly pandemic.Īpril 7: Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian defended his tweets questioning whether American soldiers introduced the coronavirus to Wuhan. Timeline of the US-China Covid-19 friction "Whether it came from the lab or came from the bats, it all came from China, and they should have stopped it," he said. While US intelligence agencies have said the coronavirus does not appear manmade or genetically modified, rejecting a theory promoted by some Trump supporters, Trump said in his interview that China should have stopped it at its source. And cutting off the economic relationship would badly damage the American economy," he said. "Avoiding communication is not an effective strategy for solving a crisis that requires global cooperation. Scott Kennedy of Washington's Centre for Strategic and International Studies think-tank called Trump's latest remarks "dangerous bravado". Opponents of Trump have said that while China has much to answer for over the outbreak, he appears to be seeking to deflect attention from criticism over his response to the crisis. The United States has been hardest hit by the pandemic, according to official data.Ĭhina insists it has been transparent, and amid increasingly bitter exchanges both sides have questioned the future of the trade deal.
Trump and his Republican backers have repeatedly accused Beijing of failing to alert the world to the severity and scope of the coronavirus outbreak, which has sparked a global economic contraction and threatened his November re-election chances.
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