Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi on Sunday advised the United States to stop wasting time in its fight against the coronavirus and work with China to combat it.
He said this would be more beneficial than spreading lies and attacking the country unjustly.
The Sino-U.S. ties have nosedived since the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
The administrations of President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping have repeatedly traded barbs over issues relating to the pandemic.
The U.S. especially accused China of cover-ups and lack of transparency.
The two top economies have also clashed over Hong Kong, human rights, trade and the U.S. support for Chinese-claimed Taiwan.
State Councillor Wang, speaking at his annual news conference on the sidelines of China’s parliament, expressed his deep sympathies to the U.S. for the pandemic, where the death toll is expected to surpass 100,000 in the coming days, the highest number of any country.
“Regretfully, in addition to the raging coronavirus, a political virus is also spreading in the U.S.
“This political virus is using every opportunity to attack and smear China,’’ said Wang, who is also China’s Foreign Minister.
“I want to say here: Don’t waste precious time any longer, and don’t ignore lives.
“What China and the U.S. need to do the most is to first learn from each other and share their experience in fighting against the epidemic and help each country fight it”, Wang was quoted by Reuters/NAN.
China and the U.S. also need to start coordinating macro policies for their respective economies and the world economy, he added.
Wang said China remained prepared to work with the U.S. in the spirit of cooperation and mutual respect.
“China has always advocated that as the world’s largest developing country and the largest developed country, both of us bear a major responsibility for world peace and development,’’ he said.
“China and the U.S. stand to gain from cooperation, and lose from confrontation.’’
Last month, Missouri became the first U.S. state to sue the Chinese government over its handling of the coronavirus.
It said China’s response to the outbreak that originated in the city of Wuhan brought devastating economic losses to the state.
Wang said such lawsuits lacked any legal basis.
“If you want to infringe upon China’s sovereignty and dignity with indiscriminate litigation, and extort the fruits of the hard work of the Chinese people, I am afraid this is a daydream and you’ll only humiliate yourself.’’
Wang also offered his strong support for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and its chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, frequent targets of the U.S. criticism.
“To support the WHO is to support saving lives.
“This is the choice any country with a conscience should make,’’ he said.
Trump, who had accused the agency of being “China centric”, has threatened to permanently halt funding to the WHO and to reconsider his country’s membership of the agency.
