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Mind your own business: China to Trump after he calls COVID-19 'Chinese virus'

Mind your own business: China to Trump after he calls COVID-19 'Chinese virus'

US President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump's comment about the coronavirus has angered Chinese authorities.

Recently, the US president referred to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus as ''Chinese''.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman responded by asking the US to ''take care of its own business'' before commenting on China.

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The virus began from a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019.

Earlier this month, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson claimed that the US army had brought the virus to China.

To this, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded by asking China to end its disinformation campaign in a bid ''to shift blame'' for the outbreak.

Until now, more than 170,000 people have been infected globally, with 80,000 alone in China.

Earlier today, Chinese authorities claimed that there was only a single new case in the country, while all others were imported cases.

Since the beginning, many have referred to the virus as ''Wuhan virus'' or ''Chinese virus'', something the World Health Organization (WHO) has strictly warned against, for it could perpetuate stigma against a particular region.

However, many US officials continue to refer to it as either the ''Chinese virus'' or ''Wuhan virus''.

Geng Shuang, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said that the tweet amounts to the ''stigmatisation of China''.

"We urge the US to correct its mistake and stop its groundless accusations against China,” he added.

Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency called Trump's rhetoric ''racist and xenophobic''.

As of Tuesday, the global infection numbers stand at 182,400, while over 7,100 have been killed, as per data provided by the Johns Hopkins University. For the first time, the number of deaths outside China has surpassed the number inside.

Millions continue to remain quarantined in Europe and Asia.