Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. (Photo/fmprc.gov.cn)
China on Friday urged the United States to stop politicizing the coronavirus pandemic and called for solidarity and cooperation in coping with the contagion.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the remark after U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper accused China in an interview on Thursday of lacking transparency regarding COVID-19 and misleading the world from the beginning of the outbreak.
"If the U.S. has been misled or not given enough information in the early stages of the pandemic, why did the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issue warnings on Jan 15?" Zhao asked at a daily news briefing.
He went on to ask: "Why did the U.S. announce the closure of its consulate general in Wuhan on Jan 25 and evacuate its personnel? And why did the U.S. shut its borders to all Chinese nationals and foreigners that had been to China in the past 14 days on Feb 2?"
Smear and stigmatization will not cover the facts and shifting blame will not kill the virus, while cooperation and solidarity is the only way to defeat the pandemic, Zhao said.
China urges the U.S. to "mind its own business", and focus more on defeating the virus and reviving its economy, he added.
Also on Friday, when responding to criticism and doubts from leaders of France and the United Kingdom in terms of China's dealing with the virus, Zhao said that it is not helpful to judge different political systems at present.
The urgent task for all countries is to show solidarity to defeat the pandemic and save lives, he said.
After the outbreak of the virus, the leaders of China and France have held three telephone conversations to express mutual support, Zhao said.
Leaders and foreign ministers from China and the UK have also discussed cooperation in combating the pandemic during their phone calls, he said.
Noting various traditional and nontraditional security issues will continue to bring new challenges in the era of economic globalization, he said that "solidarity and cooperation is the most powerful weapon for the international community to defeat the pandemic".
China is willing to work with the international community to uphold multilateralism and strengthen international cooperation to jointly safeguard the health and security of mankind, he added.
