The officials from the United States believe that China has covered the novel coronavirus up to an extent. According to the United States intelligence document, China is believed to have covered up the severity of the disease in order to stock up medical supplies.
A four-page intelligence report by the Department of Homeland Security that is dated May 1st, Chinese leaders intentionally concealed the severity of the pandemic from the world during early January. The Associated Press has claimed access to the intelligence report. The development comes at the back of the intense attacks on the Chinese administration by the Trump government. The Trump government has shown signs of seeking reparations of 1 trillion dollars from China.
The critics of the Beijing administration notes that the government’s response to the virus was slow and inadequate given the severity known. Back in the United States, the opposition has accused Donald Trump of attacking China who happens to be their trade partner despite being a geopolitical foe. The opposition claims that Trump’s attack on China is his way of deflecting criticism against him.
An analysis by DHS that is marked as ‘for official use only’, states that while China downplayed the severity of the contagious disease, it increased imports and decreased its exports of medical supplies. By doing so, the analysis says that China covered up by denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying the provision of its trade data.
Trump criticizes US intelligence for negligence
While China informed the World Health Organisation about the possible pandemic in late January, the imports of face masks and surgical gowns had sharply increased. United States President Donald Trump has criticized the US intelligence for not providing clarity sooner on the severity of the coronavirus outbreak. Trump wrote in his tweet,
“Intelligence has just reported to me that I was correct and that they did NOT bring up the Coronavirus subject matter until late into January, just prior to my banning China from the US. Also, they only spoke of the virus in a very non-threatening, or matter of fact, manner.”
The Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo spoke to ABC’s The Week on Sunday where he was seen saying,
“Remember, China has a history of infecting the world, and they have a history of running substandard laboratories. These are not the first time that we’ve had a world exposed to viruses as a result of failures in a Chinese lab.”
Source: The Times of India
