FRANCE – A spat between the United States and China over the novel coronavirus escalated on Tuesday as President Donald Trump angered Beijing by referring to the pathogen as the “Chinese Virus.”
The two countries have sparred over the origin of the virus for days, with a Chinese official promoting conspiracy theories claiming it was brought to China by the US army and American officials using terms seen as stigmatising a nation.
Trump’s allies had previously referred to the pandemic as the “Chinese coronavirus”.
Beijing said Tuesday it was “strongly indignant” over the phrase, which it called “a kind of stigmatization.” (AFP)
