Pompeo renews criticism of China over virus but welcomes supplies
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[April 23, 2020]
By David Brunnstrom and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo hit out at Beijing again on Wednesday over the
coronavirus outbreak and accused it of taking advantage of the pandemic
to bully neighbors, even as he welcomed China's provision of essential
medical supplies.
Pompeo told a news briefing that the United States "strongly believed"
Beijing had failed to report the outbreak in a timely manner, in breach
of World Health Organization rules, and had failed to report
human-to-human transmission of the virus "for a month until it was in
every province inside of China."
Pompeo also said China had halted testing of new virus samples,
"destroyed existing samples" and failed to share samples with the
outside world, "making it impossible to track the disease’s evolution."
The Trump administration has repeatedly criticized China's handling of
the coronavirus outbreak, which began late last year in the Chinese city
of Wuhan and has grown into a global pandemic. The outbreak has killed
around 180,000 people globally, including more than 45,000 in the United
States, according to a Reuters tally.
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Even after Beijing notified the WHO of the outbreak, Pompeo said, "It
did not share all of the information it had. Instead it covered up how
dangerous the disease is."
President Donald Trump last week suspended U.S. funding of the WHO,
accusing the U.N. agency of promoting China's "disinformation" about the
outbreak. WHO officials have denied this and China has said it has been
transparent and open.
Pompeo said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom failed to use his
ability "to go public" when a member state failed to follow the rules.
He said the WHO had an obligation to ensure safety standards were
observed in virology labs in Wuhan and its director-general had
"enormous authority with respect to nations that do not comply."
Pompeo repeated allegations that China was exploiting the world's focus
on the pandemic with "provocative behavior" to erode autonomy in Hong
Kong, exert military pressure on Taiwan and coerce neighbors in the
South China Sea.
"The United States strongly opposes China's bullying, we hope other
nations will hold them to account," he said.
China's Foreign Ministry denied the U.S allegations on Thursday. "One or
two people in the U.S. are confusing right and wrong and sowing discord
on these issues. These schemes will not prevail," said Foreign Ministry
spokesman Geng Shuang.
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![](../images/042320pics/news_t35.jpg)
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses a news conference at
the State Department in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2020.
REUTERS/Leah Millis/Pool/File Photo
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Pompeo also expressed concern over a U.S. government-funded study
that said China's Mekong River dams held back large volumes of water
during a drought in downstream countries last year despite China
having higher-than-average water levels upstream. Beijing has
disputed the study's findings.
The Secretary of State spoke later on Wednesday with counterparts
from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and said the United
States has called on China to close its wildlife wet markets
permanently, citing links between the markets and zoonotic diseases,
which can jump from animals to humans.
The novel coronavirus is believed to have emerged in such a market
in Wuhan late last year.
While the Trump administration has stepped up criticism of China as
the pandemic worsens, the crisis has exposed U.S. reliance on China
for essential medical supplies.
Asked about recent reports that supplies were being held up in
China, Pompeo said: "The good news is we have seen China provide
those resources; sometimes they're from U.S. companies that are
there in China, but we've had success. ... We appreciate that.
"We are counting on China to continue to live up to its contractual
obligations and international obligations to provide that assistance
to us and to sell us those goods ... in a way consistent with all of
the international trade rules."
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White House adviser Peter Navarro, like Pompeo a persistent critic
of Beijing, charged on Monday that China may be withholding data
about early coronavirus infections because it wants to win the
commercial race to create a vaccine.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and David Brunnstrom; Additional
reporting by Jonathan Landay, Kanishka Singh and Gabriel Crossley;
Editing by Paul Simao, Leslie Adler and Tom Hogue)
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