The United States has created and spread panic following the outbreak of the coronavirus infection in China, but failed to provide any substantial help to Beijing to contain the virus, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
"The US government hasn't provided any substantive assistance to us, but it was the first to evacuate personnel from its consulate in Wuhan, the first to suggest partial withdrawal of its embassy staff, and the first to impose a travel ban on Chinese travellers. What it has done could only create and spread fear, which is a very bad example”, she stated.
Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying expressed hope that the global community will make reasonable, calm, and science-based judgements and responses to the situation.
"Most countries have said that they appreciate and support China's efforts in the fight against the new type of coronavirus and we understand and respect their [decision] to impose a quarantine on the border or introduce required measures regarding entry for Chinese citizens", Hua Chunying told a briefing.
The new strain of coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, in December and has since spread to more than 20 countries. On Sunday, the first death outside of China was reported in the Philippines, where a 44-year-old man, a Wuhan resident, died.
