• Zac looks through the window at Vera Barnett after delivering a carvary from the Sneyd Arms on Mother's Day in Keele, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Britain. Reuters
    Zac looks through the window at Vera Barnett after delivering a carvary from the Sneyd Arms on Mother's Day in Keele, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Britain. Reuters
  • Members of the media are screened for fever prior to US President Donald Trump delivering remarks on the pandemic in the press briefing room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA. EPA
    Members of the media are screened for fever prior to US President Donald Trump delivering remarks on the pandemic in the press briefing room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA. EPA
  • A group of nurses wearing protective gear pose for a group photo prior to their night shift at the Cremona hospital, southeast of Milan. AFP
    A group of nurses wearing protective gear pose for a group photo prior to their night shift at the Cremona hospital, southeast of Milan. AFP
  • People clap and bang utensils from their balconies to cheer for emergency personnel and sanitation workers who are on the frontlines in the fight against coronavirus, in Mumbai, India. Reuters
    People clap and bang utensils from their balconies to cheer for emergency personnel and sanitation workers who are on the frontlines in the fight against coronavirus, in Mumbai, India. Reuters
  • The window lights of a hotel are illuminated in the shape of a heart after German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the nation on the consequences of the spread of coronavirus, in Frankfurt, Germany. Reuters
    The window lights of a hotel are illuminated in the shape of a heart after German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the nation on the consequences of the spread of coronavirus, in Frankfurt, Germany. Reuters
  • The relative of an inmate cries outside La Modelo jail in Bogota, Colombia. AP Photo
    The relative of an inmate cries outside La Modelo jail in Bogota, Colombia. AP Photo
  • A replica of an elephant with a facemask is driven on a trailer pulled by a car to bring awareness during a one-day Janata (civil) curfew imposed by the government in Chennai, India. AFP
    A replica of an elephant with a facemask is driven on a trailer pulled by a car to bring awareness during a one-day Janata (civil) curfew imposed by the government in Chennai, India. AFP
  • People gather on the balconies of a residential building to clap to thank essential service providers during a one-day Janata (civil) curfew imposed in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad. AFP
    People gather on the balconies of a residential building to clap to thank essential service providers during a one-day Janata (civil) curfew imposed in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad. AFP
  • French soldiers of La Valbonne medical regiment set up a military field hospital at the Emile Muller Hospital in Mulhouse, eastern France, on the sixth day of a strict lockdown. AFP
    French soldiers of La Valbonne medical regiment set up a military field hospital at the Emile Muller Hospital in Mulhouse, eastern France, on the sixth day of a strict lockdown. AFP
  • A general view of the temporary hospital set up at a pavilion in Ifema convention and exhibition center in Madrid. AFP
    A general view of the temporary hospital set up at a pavilion in Ifema convention and exhibition center in Madrid. AFP
  • A man stands prepared with sanitiser at the entrance of a Living Faith Church, following the outbreak of coronavirus in Abuja, Nigeria. Reuters
    A man stands prepared with sanitiser at the entrance of a Living Faith Church, following the outbreak of coronavirus in Abuja, Nigeria. Reuters
  • A woman wearing protective mask and gloves uses her phone in a Mass Rapid Transit train, during the movement control order due to the outbreak of coronavirus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Reuters
    A woman wearing protective mask and gloves uses her phone in a Mass Rapid Transit train, during the movement control order due to the outbreak of coronavirus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Reuters
  • A dog wearing a mask is seen on a street following an outbreak of coronavirus in Shanghai, China. Reuters
    A dog wearing a mask is seen on a street following an outbreak of coronavirus in Shanghai, China. Reuters
  • A man walks along a road leading to St. Mary Major Basilica, silhouetted in background, in Rome. AP Photo
    A man walks along a road leading to St. Mary Major Basilica, silhouetted in background, in Rome. AP Photo

The Americas

China's man in America breaks with ministry officials on virus claims

The comments come after foreign ministry officials in Beijing suggested that the virus originated in a US military lab

Bloomberg

March 23, 2020

  • English
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China’s ambassador to the US reaffirmed his opposition to promoting theories that the virus that causes Covid-19 originated in an American military lab, in an unusual break with the country’s foreign ministry.

Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai said in an interview with Axios on HBO that he stood by his February 9 statement that it would be "crazy" to spread such theories.

Since his original remarks, Foreign Ministry officials in Beijing and ambassadors around the world have repeatedly posted statements speculating about a possible US origin for the virus, which was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

China's ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai responds to reporters questions during an interview. Reuters, File
China's ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai responds to reporters questions during an interview. Reuters, File

“Such speculation will help nobody. It’s very harmful,” Mr Cui said in the interview on Sunday. “Eventually, we must have an answer to where the virus originally came from. But, this is the job for the scientists to do, not for diplomats.”

Mr Cui’s comments represent a departure from those of Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, who has publicly questioned whether the virus originated in China and even touted the idea that it may have been introduced by US Army athletes last autumn.

Such public differences are rare among Chinese officials who usually stay close to the Communist Party official line.

Mr Cui is appointed directly by President Xi Jinping and holds a vice-ministerial rank in China’s political hierarchy. That makes him two levels senior to Mr Zhao, whose official title is deputy director of the foreign ministry’s Information Department.

Mr Zhao continued to promote the theory Sunday, retweeting speculation from a Twitter user who goes by the name “the lizard king” that Covid-19 has been around in America “for a while.”

The user describes herself as “not an expert.”

The ministry spokesman’s statements have been echoed in official state media in recent days and have provoked anger in Washington.

President Donald Trump has taken to calling the pathogen the “Chinese virus” and has blamed the US’s outbreak on the Asian country’s early failures to control the disease.

“As you know China tried to say at one point – maybe they stopped now – that it was caused by American soldiers,” Mr Trump told reporters March 18. “That can’t happen. It’s not going to happen, not as long as I’m president. It comes from China.”

Meanwhile, China has also found itself in a tit-for-tat with the Trump administration over foreign journalists in Beijing.

Last week, authorities in the foreign ministry expelled at least 13 American journalists from Beijing and forced at least seven Chinese nationals to stop working for American news outlets there.

Asked by Axios about Mr Zhao's comments, Mr Cui referred the question back to the spokesman and his authority as ambassador to speak on behalf of the Chinese government.

“Maybe you could go and ask him,” Mr Cui said. “I’m here representing my head of the state and my government.”