Chinese state media has blamed President Donald Trump’s “incompetent” administration for the U.S. coronavirus death toll, which has now passed 100,000 people.
A Thursday editorial published by the People’s Daily newspaper—the official publication of the Chinese Communist Party—lamented the death toll and called on the Trump administration to re-evaluate its approach to the pandemic, which has infected almost 5.7 million people worldwide and killed 355,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The COVID-19 coronavirus originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan before spreading worldwide. The pandemic has driven U.S.-China relations to their lowest point in living memory, with the Trump administration blaming Beijing for allowing the virus to spread.
Beijing has flatly rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing, but has thus far blocked a proposed international investigation of the outbreak and its spread, having allegedly concealed information about the virus in its early stages.
The effort reportedly stretched to the very highest levels of the regime, with The Associated Press alleging that President Xi Jinping withheld data indicating that the Wuhan outbreak was soon to morph into a pandemic.
U.S. intelligence officials have also suggested that Beijing may have hidden its true number of coronavirus infections and deaths.
Meanwhile, Chinese officials and state media have been waging a disinformation campaign maligning Western nations for their response to the crisis—particularly the U.S. and the Trump administration—while seeking to absolve China of blame.
The People’s Daily said Thursday that the 100,000 American death toll represents “one of the darkest moments in U.S. history,” describing the news as “deeply saddening.”
“While there are many factors at play, a key factor behind the high numbers was the Trump administration’s mishandling of the coronavirus crisis,” the newspaper alleged.
The op-ed noted that the president has tried to “spin” the crisis to his political benefit, lauding his own performance and claiming victory. Meanwhile, the article said, Trump has assigned blame to China and the media.
“America, the most powerful country on the planet with the most sophisticated medical technologies, did not have to lose so many lives to coronavirus,” People’s Daily argued. “The Trump administration squandered vital time as the coronavirus spread across the country…The grim milestone is a failure of epic proportions on the part of the Trump administration.”
Elsewhere, the editor of the nationalist state-backed Global Times newspaper said the American death toll was “the biggest shame of the U.S. in over a century.”
Hu Xijin—who has become known for his attacks on the Trump administration during the coronavirus crisis—said the figure “reflects the systematic decay of the U.S., which allows govt’s open negligence of duty.”
Global Times—which is owned by the People’s Daily—is often used to voice the more belligerent sentiments within the CCP. Hu added that even while Americans are still dying, “the White House is bragging” about its handling of the crisis. “Those 100,000 died in vain,” he argued.
