New Delhi (NVI): US President Donald Trump has referred to coronavirus as “Chinese virus” in one of his tweets, drawing sharp reactions from Beijing even as the WHO has warned against linking the pathogen to any area or group due to the risk of stigmatisation.
“The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before,” Trump said in a tweet yesterday.
The United States will be powerfully supporting those industries, like Airlines and others, that are particularly affected by the Chinese Virus. We will be stronger than ever before!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 16, 2020
While a number of US officials have referred to the pathogen as a Chinese virus, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly referred to it as “Wuhan virus”, reports in foreign media said.
Trump’s tweet though, evoked a sharp reaction from Chinese authorities who called it a kind of stigmatisation.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said that China “strongly opposes” the use of those words by Trump.
However, the US-China diplomatic spat over the spread of virus has reflected in the media earlier also. The two sides have sparred over the origin of virus for days, with a Chinese official earlier claiming that US Military has transported the virus to China.
