'Modern piracy': Did United States reroute a shipment of face masks headed to Germany?

After German officials accused the United States of diverting a shipment of masks heading to Germany, an American spokesperson has denied any such plot.

The shipment was allegedly diverted from an airport in Bangkok. The US embassy representative in Thailand simply claimed to have no knowledge.

Calling it an “act of modern piracy”, Berlin Secretary of Interior Andreas Geisel on Friday had claimed that over 200,000 masks were “confiscated” in Bangkok, and then rerouted to the United States.

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“The United States Government did not take any action to divert any 3M supplies that were destined to Germany nor did we have any knowledge of such a shipment,” Jillian Bonnardeaux, the US embassy spokeswoman in Bangkok, told Reuters.

“We remain concerned about pervasive attempts to divide international efforts through unsourced, unattributed disinformation campaigns”, the representative added.

When Reuters reached out to Thai authorities, there was no response.

Rerouting a shipment may not come off as a big deal in the larger scheme of things, but as the world is grappling with a killer pandemic, countries across the globe are racing it out to secure the most protective gear.

This is not the first such accusation. Many countries in Europe and South America have complained of the US trying to block shipments of essential medical supplies heading for their countries.

Over 74,000 people have died from the virus as of now, with over 1,300,000 reported positive cases.

There’s no clarity on how the shipment was rerouted. The masks were ordered from a German wholesaler, and not from the US company 3M, which has denied any involvement.

US President Donald Trump recently asserted that “there had been no act of privacy”.

(With inputs from Reuters)