The grave COVID-19 situation in the U.S. has triggered the American authorities into initiating a mud-slinging match with China to divert the public attention from their inaction in the early stage of the outbreak. 

U.S. media reported Monday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a four-page intelligence report dated May 1, accusing China of covering up the extent of the coronavirus outbreak and how contagious the disease was, to hoard medical supplies. The report was first accessed and reported by The Associated Press while more details were later revealed by Politico. 

The report comes amid Trump administration's continuous pressure on the country's intelligence departments to seek evidence to support its campaign to blame China and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the pandemic. Trump's political opponents have accused the president of attempting to deflect criticism at home by targeting China and making preposterous claims.

Here's why the report is a piece of fiction

1. The report claims "China held off informing the WHO that the coronavirus 'was a contagion' for much of January."

In fact, according to a WHO timeline, China informed the WHO of the outbreak on December 31 and has provided incremental updates on the mysterious outbreak since then.

To the U.S. specifically, China contacted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control on January 3 and publicly identified the pathogen as a novel coronavirus on January 8. China's public announcement on January 20 that the virus was transmissible from person to person left the U.S. with nearly two months to prepare for the pandemic, during which the U.S. government failed to bolster medical supplies and deployed flawed testing kits.

2. The report argues "China held back exports of medical protective products."

However, according to Chinese customs data released on March 25, Chinese exports of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the world declined by only 15 percent in the first two months of 2020, as compared to the same period in 2019.

It is notable that China's exports of these medical products declined less than the rest of its exports to the world, which fell by 17 percent during the same period.

"The factors behind the dip were complex, and not simply a case of China hoarding the equipment for itself or retaliating against the Trump trade war," Chad P. Bown, Reginald Jones, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, argued in his analysis published online. 

"There is no evidence here that China was voluntarily holding back PPE exports to the United States during this period: The 19-percent decline in China's PPE sales to the United States was actually smaller than the 28-percent fall in its exports to the United States of all other products," Chad said. 

3. The report says China attempted to cover up descaling exports of medical supplies by "denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data."

This accusation does not seem to stand our fact-check either.

"China is a major producer of face masks in the world. Usually, 70 percent of total masks produced in China are exported," Li Xingqian, head of Commerce Ministry's Foreign Trade Department, said at a press conference in March, emphasizing that "Since the outbreak of coronavirus, the commerce ministry, which is in charge of China's foreign trade, has not banned the export of face masks and their raw materials. The production companies can conduct trade according to market rules."

Official data shows that China's daily output of face masks reached 116 million pieces by the end of February – 12 times the figure at the beginning of the month.

With domestic production further resumed, China has supported the international community in the joint combat against the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Chinese customs, from January 24 to February 29, during which China was facing severe epidemic situation domestically, the country still exported 2.46 billion pieces of epidemic prevention and control goods, valued at 8.21 billion U.S. dollars. Among them were a total of 2.4 billion pieces of protective equipment, including 2.02 billion masks and 25.38 million pieces of protective clothing.

From March 1 to April 30, China exported medical supplies valued at about 71.2 billion yuan (10.1 U.S. dollars), including 27.8 billion face masks and 130 million protective suits. 

Read more: China says medical supply exports increased significantly

Although the Trump administration has continued to discredit and blame China, Chinese medical supplies have also been shipped to the United States.

On April 23, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying tweeted, as of April 20, China has provided more than 2.4 billion masks to the U.S., enough for each American to get seven. In addition, nearly 5,000 ventilators and many other medical devices were also supplied. Hua said: "Hope that could save more lives."

(Cover via VCG)