China, France in diplomatic spat over coronavirus pandemic
France and China
Amid the coronavirus crisis, French and Chinese officials are now involved in a diplomatic spat over an article criticizing the West's response to the outbreak.
The article reportedly defended China's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic while it criticized the West's handling of the disease.
In the post, an "unnamed" Chinese diplomat allegedly said that several French lawmakers had signed a statement against WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus accusing him of "pro-Chinese" bais.
Incidentally, President Trump on Thursday stopped funding to the WHO over "mismanagement" of the COVID-19 pandemic while he had repeatedly accused it of having a Chinese bias and the international health body not doing enough to warn about the consequences of the virus earlier.
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The article on the Chinese website said that WHO has been "the subject of a real siege on the part of the Western countries" who have even attacked WHO's DrTedros.
It said that "Taiwanese authorities" along with French parliamentarians even used the word "Negro", a derogatory term to describe blacks to attack Tedros.
Taiwan dismissed the report terming it as fake news from China. “The Chinese embassy in France’s tweet created something out of nothing,” it said while adding that it did not ever racially abuse Tedros.
The Chinese foreign ministry on it its part said it hoped there was "no misunderstanding", adding that it never made any negative comment on France's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it had "no intention" of doing so.
Meanwhile, the French officials denied they had issued any declaration. Despite the raging controversy, the article still appears on the Chinese government website and it hasn't yet taken down the article.
Correction: An earlier version of this story broadcast on Gravitas on Thursday said that the article by the Chinese diplomat has been removed. The Chinese Embassy in France's website still features the article in French.