Trump Blasts China, WHO for Unnecessary Spread of COVID-19

President Trump continued his vendetta against China while addressing the United Nations general assembly on Tuesday, calling for the global body to hold Beijing accountable for the astronomic spread of the coronavirus.

In pre-recorded remarks to the virtual assembly, Trump said the U.S. had gone to war against “the invisible enemy, the China virus,” and laid out several grievances as evidence of Beijing’s responsibility for the spread of COVID-19.

“The United Nations must hold China accountable for their actions,” Trump said.

According to the latest data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center via The Hill, nearly 1 million people have died from the virus across the globe, including 200,000 deaths in the U.S. alone, the highest recorded number of any country.

President Trump did not hold back when it came to the World Health Organization, either. After terminating the U.S. relationship with the WHO in May over its handling of the pandemic, the President made it clear that China is not the only one who should face consequences.

“The Chinese government, and the World Health Organization – which is virtually controlled by China – falsely declared that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission,” the president said.

After Trump’s piece, Chinese representative to the U.N, Zhang Jun, rejected his claims as “baseless” accusations against China and called for “not spreading of a political virus.” Chinese President Xi Jinping, “who also addressed the global body in a series of recorded remarks, reiterated calls for dialogue and positive competition,” according to The Hill.

“China is the largest developing country in the world, a country that is committed to peaceful open cooperative and common development,” Xi said in translated remarks. We will never seek hegemony expansion or sphere of influence. WE have no intention to fight either a cold war, or a hot one, with any country.”

As tensions between the U.S. and China rise and diplomatic relations veer off course, these remarks are among the first confrontations between the two leaders. In August, Trump said that he had not spoken to Xi in “a long time” and while meetings between officials occurred in June, it remains unclear whether the two leaders have had any direct communication.

It is evident that Trump will not hold back his feelings regarding China’s involvement with the coronavirus and because Trump has made his criticism of China a major part of his reelection campaign, the criticism will continue until a consensus is reached.