The United States of America and China have been engaged in a war of words ever since the coronavirus pandemic. The United States of America and China have been engaged in a war of words ever since the coronavirus outbreak. Tensions are mounting between the two nations on multiple issues including human rights, military flexing in the South China Sea and last but not least, the trade that found abode in many global headlines last year.
Now, US President Donald Trump has threatened to ‘cut off the whole relationship’ with China, as tensions between the two supreme nations continue to increase over the origin of deadly coronavirus.
In an interview with Fox Business Network, US President said he was very disappointed with China's failure to curtail the infection and that the outbreak had cast a pall over his trade deal in January with Beijing, which he has previously welcomed as a major achievement.
Trump said, “They should have never let this happen, so I make a great trade deal and now I say this doesn't feel the same to me. The ink was barely dry and the plague came over. And it doesn't feel the same to me.” The US has already spoken about the disappointment over China's handling of the COVID-19 which has claimed over 80,000 lives in the USA.
Trump's temper stretched to China’s President Xi Jinping with whom the Trump has said frequently he has a good relationship. But now Trump said, “But I just - right now I don't want to speak to him.”
There are many things that the US can do, Trump stated. Commenting on the same he said, “There are many things we could do. We could do things, we could cut off the whole relationship. Now if you did what would happen? You would save USD 500 billion if you cut off the whole relationship. Look, at what point does and I said this for years I said it with other countries also you know -- China is not the only country ripping us off at the NATO where we defend Europe for nothing by the way essentially nothing I was able to get them to pay hundreds of billions of dollars more.”
CHINA’S REPLY
In a befitting reply, the Chinese government through its state-controlled Global Times newspaper said cutting off with China ‘may put world peace in a dangerous position’.
The published report blamed the President of ‘talking nonsense’ and claimed he was ‘bluffing and acting tough towards China to win more support’ and named him a ‘giant baby on the brink of a meltdown’.
China powerfully denied the charge of spreading the infection, insisting it conveyed all data soon to the World Health Organisation.
US-CHINA TRADE WAR TIMELINE 2020
January 13: US Treasury Department officially drops China’s currency manipulator label.
January 15: The two global leaders sign phase one trade deal.
January 31: US President Donald Trump blocks travel from China.
February 7: Finance Ministry of China announced that it will halve tariffs on 1,717 goods of US, dropping the tariff on many items from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.
March 20: Donald Trump calls coronavirus as 'China Virus.'
May 8: China-US confirm their phase one trade deal promises over the phone.
May 12: China announces new list of commodities from China debarred from tariffs from May 19, 2020, to May 18, 2021.
