As a result of these actions, “a huge number of lives have been lost”, said the Secretary of State.
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo expressed confidence that the Chinese authorities would be held responsible for the alleged cover-up of the outbreak of the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
On Thursday night on Fox News, a host asked him how the U.S. administration views China’s actions in light of the spread of the virus. The secretary of state stressed that these actions “resulted in a huge number of lives being lost. “And now there are big problems for the global and American economies,” Pompeo said, once again noting that the Chinese side, in his opinion, deliberately did not disclose information about the outbreak in its early stages. – There is still no full transparency in our relationship with the Communist Party of China (CPC). We suspect that there are still many things that we do not know about.
“The Communist Party of China and the World Health Organization didn’t do what they had to do when the pandemic started in their country”, – Pompeo said. In response to the host’s clarifying question, he noted that “the CPC will pay the price for what they did, at least to the United States.”
“I do not know exactly in what form it will be done”, – said the Secretary of State. – “Now we are focused on ensuring the safety of Americans and reducing the risks”.
Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump pointed out that China could face consequences if it is proven that it deliberately allowed an outbreak of the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Gen Shuang responded by saying that U.S. policymakers need to stop making irresponsible statements and remember that their enemy is coronavirus, not China.
In turn, the WHO representative Melita Vuinovich earlier stressed that the organization is pleased with the way China has provided information about the coronavirus infected and subsequent deaths in Wuhan city and Hubei province.