China says U.S. accusation of info cover-up is simply a hoax

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China restated on Monday that it has been sharing information with the world on the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a transparent and timely way and the accusations of cover-up by the United States is simply a hoax.

Geng Shuang, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said that the U.S. government conceived the plan of defaming China for allegedly hiding up information on the spread of the epidemic, at a press conference on Monday.

He then referred to two occurrences reported on Friday. One is that the U.S. State of Secretary Mike Pompeo told reporters that China, Russia and Iran have been spreading disinformation about the U.S. and "disparage" their plan to combat the coronavirus.

Another case was reported by a U.S. news agency called The Daily Beast. It said that the organization obtained a State Department cable, which says that the White House informed multiple federal agencies to focus on framing how China caused the pandemic by cover-up.

"Some senior US officials and politicians are using the epidemic to slander the efforts of the Chinese government and people, and stigmatize China with the coronavirus. We strongly oppose this. Countries around the world should work together to cope with these difficult times," said the spokesperson.

A medical worker checks diagnosis record of a patient with his colleague in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, January 24, 2020. /Xinhua

China has expressed its firm rejection of accusations on multiple occasions since U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that China should have informed the U.S. on the pandemic situation earlier, while keep calling COVID-19 "Chinese virus."

At the press briefing on Thursday, Geng listed a timeline of COVID-19 information-sharing China conducted with Washington.

Geng stressed that China has started to notify the U.S. on the latest epidemic situation in the country and the measures it was taking in combating the virus as early as January 3 both on Monday and the Thursday briefing.

In a recent interview with AXIOS and HBO on March 17, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai also called for an end to the blame game and rejected accusations.

Geng stressed that the origin of the coronavirus is a scientific issue while commenting on Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian's tweets that suggested the U.S. army might have brought the virus to Wuhan in October 2019.

"Today I want to repeat China's stance on the origin of the coronavirus. This is a matter of science and we should follow scientific advice," said Geng. "The World Health Organization and the international community share a consensus that the virus should not be linked to a specific country, area or race and any attempt at stigmatization should be rejected."