BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- China is strongly indignant at and firmly opposes U.S. stigmatization by calling the novel coronavirus "Chinese virus", and urges the United States to correct its mistakes and stop making groundless accusations against China, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tuesday.

Spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a press conference when asked to comment on U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet Monday, in which he called the novel coronavirus "Chinese virus".

"Recently, some U.S. politicians have connected the novel coronavirus with China, aiming to stigmatize China," Geng said. "We are strongly indignant at and firmly oppose that."

The World Health Organization and the international community clearly and definitely opposed to stigmatization by associating the virus with specific countries and regions.

"We urge the U.S. side to immediately correct its mistakes and stop making groundless accusations against China," Geng stressed.

Saying the novel coronavirus disease has been reported and is spreading in many places around the world, Geng said it is imperative for the international community to cooperate in the fight against the pandemic.

What the United States should do first is to manage its own business well, and play a constructive role in international cooperation on pandemic fight and safeguarding global public health security, Geng said.