US making ‘shameless’ comments on coronavirus data: China

World 
US making ‘shameless’ comments on coronavirus data: China

Beijing (Agencies): China's foreign ministry on Thursday said that the US officials are making "shameless" comments casting doubt about China's reporting of coronavirus cases in the country.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying reiterated during a daily briefing that China has been open and transparent about the coronavirus outbreak that began in the country late last year, and said the United States should stop politicising a health issue and instead focus on the safety of its people.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said the coronavirus statistics China was reporting seemed "a little bit on the light side", while his national security adviser said Washington had no way of knowing if Beijing's figures were accurate.

The comments came after a senior Republican lawmaker cast doubt on Beijing's data and Bloomberg News said a classified US intelligence report had concluded that China had under-reported the total cases and deaths it had suffered.

The coronavirus outbreak began in China in late 2019 but Beijing has reported fewer cases and deaths than in the United States, which now has the world's largest outbreak, with 215,000 confirmed cases and more than 5,000 deaths.