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China lashed out at the United States at a high-level UN meeting on Thursday for its criticism of the coronavirus, with its envoy declaring: “Enough is enough!”
Two days after President Donald Trump used his annual speech to the General Assembly to attack China’s record, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations also adopted a tone of outrage, after which her Chinese counterpart showed palpable anger. .
“I must say, enough is enough! They have already created enough problems for the world,” Chinese envoy Zhang Jun told a Security Council meeting on global governance attended by several heads of state by videoconference.
“The United States has nearly seven million confirmed cases and more than 200,000 deaths so far. With the world’s most advanced medical systems and technologies, why does the United States have the most confirmed cases and deaths?” she asked in English.
“If anyone has to be held accountable, it should be a few American politicians.”
Using a phrase that American leaders often say to China, Zhang said, “The United States must understand that a great power must behave like a great power.”
The United States “is completely isolated,” he said in remarks enthusiastically backed by his Russian counterpart.
His comments came after U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft opened with angry words that caught diplomats off guard.
“You know, the shame of each of you. I am amazed and disgusted by the content of today’s discussion,” said Craft.
“In fact, I am quite ashamed of this Council, Council members who took this opportunity to focus on political grudges rather than the critical issue at hand. My God.”
The diplomats said they were puzzled by Craft’s tone, who had left when the Chinese ambassador spoke.
Craft was “very aggressive” after a session that had been “more or less full of consensus,” said a diplomat on condition of anonymity.
When world leaders were asked to send speeches in advance for a virtual General Assembly, Chinese President Xi Jinping was unable to respond to Trump on Tuesday and delivered a mild speech in which he revealed more ambitious goals on climate change.
General Assembly spokesman Brenden Varma said China had requested to distribute a response.
Trump in his speech had demanded action against China for spreading the “plague” of Covid-19 to the world.
China suppressed news about the respiratory disease when it first emerged last year in Wuhan and the initial advice downplayed the risks of transmission.
China’s communist leaders have more recently tried to transform the narrative into one of the country’s success in stopping the virus.
Trump’s response to the pandemic, which he has provocatively called the “China virus,” has become a major political issue as he seeks a new term in the Nov.3 election.
Several African leaders used their virtual speeches before the General Assembly to call for more international aid, fearing that Covid would impede development.
“Our nations are asking for financial support that rises to the level of the economic crisis they are witnessing,” Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou said.
“Just a debt moratorium will not be enough to meet the challenges that have arisen. We simply have to cancel the debt completely,” he said, reiterating a call made Tuesday by his Democratic Republic of Congo counterpart Felix Tshisekedi.
The Group of 20 major economies suspended debt payments for the poorest nations in mid-April until the end of the year, as they face significant budget deficits due to the closure of Covid.
The African Union seeks to extend the moratorium until 2021, warning of the dire economic effects of the health crisis.
“This pandemic could erase more than a decade of economic growth and social progress achieved by the African continent,” said Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara.
Despite economic concerns, Africa has been one of the regions least affected in terms of health by Covid-19, with the continent reporting 1.8 million cases and 34,500 deaths.
prh-vl / sct / bfm
