“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has positioned himself as the Trump administration’s most aggressive China critic, pushing the argument that Beijing holds responsibility for the coronavirus pandemic. He’s drawn the ire of Chinese officials and state-backed media, who label him a ‘liar’ and have called him ‘the common enemy of mankind’ for his attacks on the Communist Party, shifting their attacks directly on the secretary and away from earlier accusations speculating the U.S. military spread COVID-19…” (Kelly, 5/10).
The Telegraph: World Health Organization denies China influence allegations
“The World Health Organization on Sunday denied allegations that the president of China asked it to delay issuing a global warning about the Covid-19 virus amid an intensifying war of words between Beijing and Washington over the handling of the pandemic. Der Speigel on Friday cited sources in Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) saying that Xi Jinping, China’s head of state, had asked Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, to withhold information about human-to-human transmission and delay sounding a global alarm…” (Oliphant, 5/10).
Source:DW
