We haven’t received $1 from US government: Chinese FM

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang at the press conference on Tuesday Photo: Foreign Ministry website

The spokespersons of China's Foreign Ministry aimed pointed questions at the US on Friday over the latter's hypocrisy.

Geng Shuang said the US government has provided no funds to support China in the coronavirus battle while always touting its share of assistance. He also said the US banished Chinese reporters to hide its public from the truth; and labelling coronavirus "Chinese virus" to pass the buck to China.

When asked if Chinese media organizations being cracked down by the US are government-sponsored, while US media organizations sanctioned by the Chinese government are "real media," Geng said that each country has its own way of managing media operations.

"Why does the US baselessly judge other countries' media from its own ideological point of view, and why does it mislabel and slander Chinese media?" Geng asked.

He added that the US has been using excuses to crack down on Chinese media and Chinese institutes on US soil, and expel Chinese reporters.

"China has no intention to change the US political system, but it hopes the US could respect China's system," Geng stressed.

Geng said if the US is a firm believer in its system, and it believes that Western democracy will finally prevail, "why is it afraid of the Communist Party of China and Chinese media?"

When asked if China has been opaque in sharing coronavirus-related information with the rest of the world and then kicked out US reporters, Geng said "based on this logic, is the US expulsion of 60 Chinese reporters an attempt to keep its public in the dark on coronavirus updates? Are they afraid that China is going to open the buried fact that the US knew a month ago that the pandemic was going to hit US hard? What is the purpose of the US move, and what it is trying to hide?"

US President Donald Trump was also caught by media replacing "corona" on his notebook, and deliberately changing it to "Chinese" virus. Geng said some people in the US have been linking the virus to China and engaging in slander, passing the buck to China, which is total ignorance of the facts.

Hua Chunying, another spokesperson, also tweeted on Thursday that "China has been updating the US on the coronavirus and its response since Jan. 3. On Jan. 15 the US State Department notified Americans in China of the US CDC's warning about the coronavirus. And now blame China for the delay? Seriously?"

In another tweet, Hua noted that US officials said they offered $100 million to China and other countries. "We thank the American people for their kind help. But as a matter of fact, we haven't received a dollar from the US government. By the way, has the US paid its dues to WHO?"

Geng clarified that China never received any funds or support from the US government since the coronavirus outbreak, though US officials have expressed their intention to provide $100 million to China.

The United States Agency for International Development claimed they would donate masks and protective gear to China, but only notified the latter on March 11 that those materials were ready. Considering the pandemic is receding in China, the Chinese side expressed gratitude to the agency and asked them to send those materials to a country in urgent need.