NBC News foreign affairs correspondent Ken Dilanian lauded China, saying Thursday that the country established itself as “global leader” because of its purportedly great response to coronavirus.
“With Italy in dire need of medical equipment, an economic superpower stepped in to help,” Dilanian tweeted. “No, not the United States. It was China. As the U.S. struggles to stem the coronavirus, China positions itself as global leader.”
With Italy in dire need of medical equipment, an economic superpower stepped in to help.
No, not the United States.
It was China.
As the U.S. struggles to stem the coronavirus, China positions itself as global leader https://t.co/PVCGozwEfF via @nbcnews
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) March 26, 2020
Dilanian later retweeted the thoughts of Jude Blanchette, fellow for Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), who accused the U.S. of “bungling this in a fairly open and transparent manner.”
“Beijing’s push for global leadership is able to get so much tailwind by virtue of the relative absence of any U.S. leadership,” he continued.
“We’re bungling this in a fairly open and transparent manner,” said China expert Jude Blanchette of CSIS. “Beijing’s push for global leadership is able to get so much tailwind by virtue of the relative absence of any U.S. leadership.” https://t.co/PVCGozwEfF
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) March 26, 2020
China has been accused of covering up evidence and testimony related to the coronavirus when it first appeared in the city of Wuhan. The Communist party leadership allegedly silenced doctors and others trying to speak out fully about the effects of COVID-19, including the damage the virus did and the potential damage it could do.
“It took an awful long time for the world to become aware of this risk that was sitting there residing inside of China,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted earlier in March.
A man wearing a face masks walks on the street following an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Beijing, China March 27, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Pompeo said China had “a responsibility to share all of their data … not only for Americans and Italians and South Koreans and Iranians who are now suffering, but for their own people as well.” (RELATED: ‘Buy American’ — White House Confirms Executive Order That Will End Medical Supply Chain Reliance On China)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo leaves a press conference at the State Department in Washington DC, on March 17, 2020. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Pompeo has routinely referred to the coronavirus as the “Wuhan Virus.” President Donald Trump also calls the pandemic the “Chinese Virus” or “Wuhan Virus,” but said Thursday he’s considering calling it something else.
Referring to the sickness as being “foreign” has provoked the ire of a reporter from CNN and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who said the reference was “xenophobic.” (RELATED: Chinese Propaganda Has Infected Daily Mail’s Coronavirus Coverage)
The former Chinese ambassador to South Africa recently praised former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for echoing Chinese propaganda that the COVID-19 pandemic was not a “Chinese virus.”
China has recently developed an unfounded conspiracy theory that the coronavirus was exported by the U.S. Army.